Yeah, I could see it. Can't you?

Bullying in the yard at school.

I am so proud of Ciarán!
It broke my heart earlier in the week to hear that bold boys were hitting them in the yard. Thinking it could be just rough play, the teacher taught him to hold up his hand and tell them he didn't like it.
Yesterday, the teacher was out training and the sub didn't see it, but the boys wouldn't stop after Ciarán told them to. His little voice so sad on the ride home, made me want to cry my eyes out. I hugged him when we got home and said that we would talk to his teacher first thing in the morning.
Just before bed last night, I told him that he was a good, brave boy to tell them to stop, even if they didn't. He told me that he wished he could just get Danny(his new friend) away from them. Turns out, Danny is being bullied and Ciarán is trying to protect him. At four, he's standing up for others. I can't wait to see what kind of man he becomes!
We need more Ciaráns in this world. Bullies are outnumbered, but yet they seem to hold the power. It's our duty to stand up to bullies for those who can't. Bullies know they are outnumbered, they're just hoping we don't cop on.

Tooth Fairy for the nonverbal child?

I was so worried about how my 6 year old would react to his tooth becoming loose, I never gave a thought as to explaining the Tooth Fairy. This was for my eldest boy, so whatever we do, we have to get him excited to leave his teeth so his brothers will buy in to the idea of the Tooth Fairy when their time comes. I always have on hand some little animal figurines in case I need to redirect a meltdown. I thought I'd tie a bow around the animal and leave it next to our Tooth Fairy box, a small wooden box with a secret door, but how will he make the connection it's from the tooth fairy?
Daddy came up with the idea of wrapping it, to give him the pleasure of tearing paper(something often done, but usually it's my catalogues or a letter from the post), and then putting a sticker or tag of a tooth on it. What a great idea!
I went online to find a photo when I saw a photo of one of the Tooth Fairy's helpers from Rise of the Guardians. He likes the movie a lot, so maybe I should use that. This helper fairy is holding a tooth and carries a coin to leave behind. I printed up two photos to use as tags, business cards are the perfect size for something like this, one for the recent tooth and one for the very loose tooth next to it that will probably fall out tomorrow. I wrote his name on the tag and attached it to the gift. I also put a coin in the box since it is his first tooth. He doesn't care much about the coins, so I will get more figurines to wrap up and tag from the Tooth Fairy.
He loved it. He was so excited to see the tag with his name on it from the Tooth Fairy, that he hadn't opened the package. We opened our secret wooden box and saw the tooth was gone but a coin was left behind. His other teeth won't be replaced by a coin in the future, just the gift. I only needed it to show the younger boys what will happen when they lose a tooth. :)

Why offend someone other than the person you wish to?

Another rant about the insensitivity of people.

I saw a posting where a would-be burglar was beaten up by his senior victim. I'm all for those postings to show that people are standing up and protecting themselves, but the poster called the burglar a "faggot junkie". Ugh.

No matter what words describe the guy, he also managed to offend others using the words he chose. Yes, we have a choice what words we use in our lives. We have the freedom of speech to say what we want, but we should never use that freedom to hurt others unnecessarily. Be mad at the person you're mad at, but don't hurt others because of your ignorance.

What if we switched retard or faggot with your own name? Would you be hurt to hear people call others your name in a demeaning and offensive way? Showing sensitivity doesn't cost you anything, but you'll gain respect by me and others like me who know and love someone who is considered a retard or faggot.

So tired of Fucktard being okay.

It's not okay! I've found people using in social media who wouldn't use retard who have taken to this term. It doesn't mean someone stupid. It simply means "fucking retard". It takes us right back to those using retarded to mean stupid.
I guess what really set me off on this subject today was reading it in a comment on a posting in an aspergers support page. This comment wasn't written to the support page, but about another page by one of the support page's...get this...followers! When I commented that the remark was offensive, I was told by another "but it's true". So, ignorance wins yet again! We are back to square one. With rappers using "autistic" now as an insult, instead of trying to get rid of the R word, perhaps we need to get people to stop using disabilities as an insult.
If you have to say someone is being stupid, then say stupid. Why hurt someone other than the stupid person you're insulting?

But at least we got a summer!

Really?? Must you go there?

So, if 50 Cent's run in with parents of children with autism last year over his insensitive tweet didn't quite grab your attention, Drake & J.Cole have brought it all back again.

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~April

A Bean Stew Kind of Day

Today it's a little chilly. It also happens to be Stewsday in our household, so I thought I'd share our favourite stew recipe. It's easy on the budget too. :)

2-400g(approx 14oz) tins of beans. Can be any kind you like but be sure to rinse them first.
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
2 stalks celery, chopped
Medium onion, chopped
Chicken stock cube or 400g(14oz) chicken stock
2-3 bay leaves, depending on size and your preference
1/2 tsp medium chili powder, or more to taste
1 tsp ground cumin
Cooking oil to sauté onion and celery
Crumbled feta cheese, optional
Guacamole, optional

Place onion and celery in medium saucepan with a quick dash of oil and cook over medium heat until celery greens up. Add tin of tomatoes. If using stock, add to pan. If using stock cube, use the tomatoes tin to add two tins of water and add stock cube. Add other spices and heat to a boil. Cook over medium-low heat until liquid is reduced in half, about 45 mins. Add rinsed beans and cook additional 10 mins. If using feta, add to pan for the last 5 mins or just before serving. Serves 4, or 2 if starving. Top with guacamole, optional but yum! As you can see from the photo, very little was left. CJ is finishing it off now.