This morning I was at the doctor's office. It was an ob/gyn and it was very busy, of course! There was a woman there who was probably 7 or 8 months pregnant and she had her daughter with her, who appeared to be about 3 or 4 years old. This little girl was very intelligent and very well spoken. When there were no other children around, she enganged in very imaginative play. I was in the waiting room for about 40 minutes and I watched the mother completely ignore her daughter except to tell her to come eat some sandwich (this was 10am she called it her breakfast). This child was hovering near the door waiting to ambush a "new playmate" as soon as she came in the door. One child came in and played with her right away, another was intimidated by the little girl and ran to her mother. Then a woman brought a baby in a stroller (he was 6mos) and she ran over to him, kissed him and grabbed his hand. The mother of the baby had to ask her to stop. Meanwhile, the mother never looked up from her book! This child had full run of the small waiting room the entire time I was there. She had toys spread out throughout the room, throwing a ball up to the ceiling repeatedly, and talking very loudly.
Now, I don't dislike children, I do have two of my own. My children are not perfect, by any means, but, I do not let them be disruptive in a small area, bother others or basically ignore them in a public place.
This isn't an isolated incident. I have observed this attitude more and more often. Have parents gotten to the point that in order to not crush their child's ego, they won't discipline them at all? Or have we become so politically correct that we can't even correct our child's behavior?
I was disciplined excessively by a woman who was mentally ill. It is very hard to raise children when I didn't have a role model to mirror. At times I was afraid to discipline my children because I was afraid I would not be able to stop. As my children have gotten older, I have become more confident in my parenting skills. I am aware of the mistakes that were made with me and I can respond to my children without violence. Not without yelling, tho... I am human after all :)
But I digress... did I miss the memo that said that kids have full run of the world and we don't have to parent them anymore? If this is true, stop the planet because I want to get off!
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Saturday, August 26, 2006
An education about Celiac
My name is April and I have Celiac. (No there is no 12 step program for Celiac... Sometimes I wish there was!)
What is Celiac? It is an auto immune disease that 1 in every 133 people in the US have and most don't know it.
Basically, Celiac is an inability to tolerate gluten. What is gluten? Gluten is the main substance in almost every food on this planet. Gluten in found in wheat, barley and rye. If you start reading labels and do a little research, you will discover that it is harder to buy something without gluten than with it.
Some of the foods with gluten:
bread, cookies, cake, soy sauce, most commercially produced breakfast cereals, IHOP omelets (they put pancake batter in their omelets to make them fluffier), everything on the menu at Taco Bell (except Pintos and Cheese), pasta... Basically most of the food I have loved for the last 30 years.
What can you eat?
Vegetables, meat and fruit without restricted seasonings, flourless chocolate cake (it's awesome), rice pasta, corn pasta, rice, potatoes. And somedays it seems that is all I can eat!
What does it do?
Everyone is different. Some people get very sick, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. Some get a rash and others become very malnourished. I was lucky, if you can call it that. I became extremely anemic, but fortunately I was already being treated for anemia when my Celiac was discovered. Most people go from doctor to doctor for an average of 9 years before being diagnosed with Celiac.
Where can you learn more?
http://celiac.org/
What is Celiac? It is an auto immune disease that 1 in every 133 people in the US have and most don't know it.
Basically, Celiac is an inability to tolerate gluten. What is gluten? Gluten is the main substance in almost every food on this planet. Gluten in found in wheat, barley and rye. If you start reading labels and do a little research, you will discover that it is harder to buy something without gluten than with it.
Some of the foods with gluten:
bread, cookies, cake, soy sauce, most commercially produced breakfast cereals, IHOP omelets (they put pancake batter in their omelets to make them fluffier), everything on the menu at Taco Bell (except Pintos and Cheese), pasta... Basically most of the food I have loved for the last 30 years.
What can you eat?
Vegetables, meat and fruit without restricted seasonings, flourless chocolate cake (it's awesome), rice pasta, corn pasta, rice, potatoes. And somedays it seems that is all I can eat!
What does it do?
Everyone is different. Some people get very sick, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. Some get a rash and others become very malnourished. I was lucky, if you can call it that. I became extremely anemic, but fortunately I was already being treated for anemia when my Celiac was discovered. Most people go from doctor to doctor for an average of 9 years before being diagnosed with Celiac.
Where can you learn more?
http://celiac.org/
Friday, August 25, 2006
Why Blog?
I have been reading my friend Cheryl's blog for quite a while now and when something happens that makes me really happy or really mad, I wish I had a blog! I love reading her take on life. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to write one for two reasons. One, will I really keep up with it? I don't know. Two, will anyone else read it? Probablly not, but I want to write one anyway :)
So, here it is...
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One of the things I wanted to blog;
Two weeks ago, I had a very strange experience. I was taking my son to drum lessons and I got it in my head that I "needed" to go to Hallmark. I told myself that I didn't need anything from Hallmark, but for some reason, I felt really strongly that I needed to go.
I dropped N off at drum lessons early, (something I have never done) and told him I was going to run to Hallmark and I would be back before his lesson was done. The whole time I am driving to the store, I am thinking to myself, "Why am I doing this? I don't need anything from Hallmark!". I pulled into a parking space right in front of the store and when I got out of the car, I looked over into the car next to me and I saw a little girl, probablly about 3 years old, sound asleep in the car! Now I live in the southwest and it was about 105 degrees at 6pm. I am looking around for an adult... someone... anyone and I see a woman in Hallmark looking at me, she is motioning to me as if to say, "it's ok". I walk into the store and walk up to her saying, "You cannot leave her out there!" The woman is about 25 years old and has an Indian accent. She tells me that the little girl was sleeping. I again told her she cannot leave a child in a car. I told her it was very hot outside and the child was sweating! She told me, no, she rolled the windown down and she was fine. I then raised my voice and told her, "You go outside, get into your car and leave, now... before I call the police!" She was stunned and quickly walked out and got into the car. The employees in the store had no idea what was going on. Then I walked around in the store, and I no longer had the feeling that I "needed" to go to Hallmark. I drove back to my son's lesson.
I was really blown away by the whole incident. I have been struggling with my faith recently and if this wasn't a "God Thing", I don't know what is.
So, here it is...
--------------------------------------------------------------
One of the things I wanted to blog;
Two weeks ago, I had a very strange experience. I was taking my son to drum lessons and I got it in my head that I "needed" to go to Hallmark. I told myself that I didn't need anything from Hallmark, but for some reason, I felt really strongly that I needed to go.
I dropped N off at drum lessons early, (something I have never done) and told him I was going to run to Hallmark and I would be back before his lesson was done. The whole time I am driving to the store, I am thinking to myself, "Why am I doing this? I don't need anything from Hallmark!". I pulled into a parking space right in front of the store and when I got out of the car, I looked over into the car next to me and I saw a little girl, probablly about 3 years old, sound asleep in the car! Now I live in the southwest and it was about 105 degrees at 6pm. I am looking around for an adult... someone... anyone and I see a woman in Hallmark looking at me, she is motioning to me as if to say, "it's ok". I walk into the store and walk up to her saying, "You cannot leave her out there!" The woman is about 25 years old and has an Indian accent. She tells me that the little girl was sleeping. I again told her she cannot leave a child in a car. I told her it was very hot outside and the child was sweating! She told me, no, she rolled the windown down and she was fine. I then raised my voice and told her, "You go outside, get into your car and leave, now... before I call the police!" She was stunned and quickly walked out and got into the car. The employees in the store had no idea what was going on. Then I walked around in the store, and I no longer had the feeling that I "needed" to go to Hallmark. I drove back to my son's lesson.
I was really blown away by the whole incident. I have been struggling with my faith recently and if this wasn't a "God Thing", I don't know what is.
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