Amazing Kid

Have you heard about Jake Andraka?

At 15 he developed a test that can detect pancreatic cancer.  This is especially interesting to me because my maternal grandmother died of the disease in her early 50s.  By the time pancreatic cancer is detected it's too late for the medical community to do much to help you.

Check out the article about him...

Jake Andraka

He also spoke at a TED Conference...

Jake Andraka Ted


I love that instead of listening in his Biology class he was reading something else!  And that 199 people said no to him working with him.  But Jake didn't give up and eventually someone from Johns Hopkins agreed to partner with him.  And I bet they are glad they did!

A Game of Unforunatelys and Fortunatelys

Big C does not like errands and we needed to do quite a few today!  I imagined lots of complaining and grumping on her part.  I decided to play a little game at breakfast.  I can't take credit for coming up with the game.  I read about it in a book. 

Each of us came up with ideas of unfortunatelys.  I wrote them on individual sheets of paper and folded them in half.  I put them into a basket.  Some of the ideas were:

Unfortunately we have to go to Costco.
Unfortunately I am still sick.
Unfortunately I seem to fall out of lots of places and get hurt.
Unfortunately my mom makes me do chores.
Unfortunately my mom makes me to do schoolwork.
Unfortunately I have to play this stupid game.
Unfortunately my family is full of whiners.

Can you guess who came up with the last unfortunately?!!  B-real!

After generating these ideas we each had to pick out a sheet of paper and turn the unfortunately into a fortunately.  Although one of us started with the idea, the rest of us added our positive ideas.

I am unsure if I can credit my little game with a change in Big C's attitude on our super errand day but I didn't hear one complaint from her.  It was a fun exercise in choosing to see the positive.

B-real is still threatening a week of living as though we are below the poverty line.  I think it would be an interesting experiment and good fodder for my blog! 
 

Really?

I laughed through the news conference today where the hood-ied and baseball hatted father of the nine year old runaway claimed he and his wife weren't bad parents.   His spokesperson even claimed if set in the right direction this boy could be president one day.  For reals?

Let's see...
He stole a van
damaged a police car
stole a bag off the baggage carousel at the airport
dined and dashed at an airport restaurant
sneaked through airport security
got onto an airplane without paying for a ticket
has been kicked out of school for repeated instances of fighting
and has sneaked into the Water Park of America multiple times without paying.

Future president?

And then there was the blame game.  Maybe the reason the boy stole the car was because he had watched Grand Theft Auto at friend's house?  Not at his own house, the dad made sure to point that out.  And it's Delta's fault and the TSA for allowing a nine year old boy to get through security and onto a plane.  The father asked for help for his son but no one was willing to help him. (Don't expect people to help you; you need to help yourself.) The dad says he gets in trouble if he whips his son but then he also gets in trouble if he lets him do as he please.  So the choice is between whipping and letting his son run free?

But they are good parents.

This kid is nine years old.  Tell me if your nine year old went to take out the trash and didn't come back would you just assume that he went to a friend's house? You wouldn't call their friends?  Or call the police? On another occasion the boy did not come home at night and the mom failed to call the police until 1:30 p.m. the following day.

But they are good parents.

People need to take responsibility for their lives and the lives of those they choose to bring into the world. They also need to help themselves instead of expecting others to solve their problems.   The family should be responsible for the losses incurred to the delivery truck, police car, bill at the restaurant, airplane ticket to Las Vegas (and back home).  Who's going to make that all 'right'? My bet is no one.  

Parental Responsibility

Did you hear about the one year old who was hospitalized after ingesting a Tide pod?  The little boy is in the ICU in Fargo, ND and they are unsure of his prognosis.  Tide Pods are easy to use dishwasher detergents that come in small sealed packages.   Essentially the little bags are put into the tray where you would normally put your liquid or powdered detergent.

What gets me is the parents are mad at Tide and suggesting they change their packaging.  They feel the pods look too much like gummy treats.  I read that poison control centers have received over 9,500 calls related to children coming in contact with the pods since early 2012.

Tide has responded by saying they hope to do more education for parents to keep these cleaning products out of the reach of children.

I have to agree with Tide.  What has happened to people taking responsibility for themselves and/or their children?  It wasn't that long ago that I had one year old children and we used child safety locks on our cabinets that housed cleaning supplies.   We also watched our children if they were in the homes of people who might not have safety locks.

I am just so sick of our society these days where people choose to blame everyone else rather than taking accountability for their actions or lack of action.  

Watch your kids.  It's not that hard to do...

Book Review: Say Goodnight Gracie

This is hands down my favorite book from my teen-age years.  If you liked "Bridge to Terrabithia" you will enjoy "Say Goodnight Gracie"! 

The book is about Morgan and Jimmy, best friends who do everything together.  Sadly Jimmy dies unexpectedly and Morgan has to figure out how to survive without her best friend.

Happily there is no romantic involvement between the two main characters.  I like how this shows kids that good friendships can, in fact, cross gender lines. 

Startling Statistic

58% of Americans will not a read a book after they graduate high school!

Sad, huh?

How can you handle spending so much time with your kids?

Lots of people ask this question about homeschooling.  How can you spend so much time with your kids? Like all day, every day, especially with a husband who travels as much as yours?

Here's the secret, I actually enjoy being with my kids.  Here's another secret, I didn't much enjoy them when they were in school.  I felt like they returned home with bad habits, arguments among siblings, drama from friendship issues, and then the homework.  My limited time with them in the evenings was not enjoyable because we were arguing, pestering about school work, and running around to activities.

Our life is much more peaceful now than when the kids were in school.  My kids are good at playing alone, because I trained them to be so, and so I can do things quietly by myself in the house.  I also am fortunate to have a husband who works out of the house so if planned far enough in advance, I can go to the doctor on my own or make lunch plans with a friend.  Although I did bring Claire with me to my mammogram appointment.  My kids know that I matter too and they recognize how much waiting around I do for them. They are happy to bring along a book or an iPad and do their thing while I do my thing.

We are easily able to get our 'school' work done in a matter of an hour, maybe two and the rest of the day we can do as we choose.   If my patience has been tested, which is rarely the case now that we are homeschooling, I will send the kids outside for a while or have them do some quiet time in their rooms.  They really don't fry me but they sure did when they were in school.

There are also great programs for home-schooled children which allow you to drop off your kids.  We participate in a class at the YMCA which allows me two hours on my own once a week.  The girls also take a half-day of co-op classes which means I have a half day to myself once a week too.  And they are getting older and the days of them being capable of staying home on their own are approaching.  Gale Woods Farm in Minnetrista offers drop off classes too.

It's really a happy thing for a family!