Awareness Wednesday - Mental Retardation

 March is among other awareness is Mental Retardation month. I have always had so much compassion for a person who is mentally challenged in any way. All through school I wouldn't allow them to be bullied or picked on. I am proud to say that my daughter has the same compassion and stands up for those that can't or won't stand up for themselves. There are 2 children with downs syndrome in her school, those 2 children have to be escorted through the halls because of a few students who are horribly mean children. My daughter and her friends allow these 2 beautiful souls to sit with them during lunch. My daughter came home so upset one day because some kids were being mean calling them "retards" among other horrible names. My daughter and her friend both freshman in high school chose to stand up and say something to these kids. A teacher yelled at them for making too much noise. When they explained to the teacher what had happened and why they made all the "noise" she told them they had to mind their business and keep it down or they'd be sent to the office. I myself dare a teacher to send my daughter to the office, or the office do something to her for her standing up for those who can't stand up for themselves.

Relationship Wellness

February is relationship wellness month! I think with my recent post and knowing that we can all improve in one area or another I thought this was a perfect awareness to bring light to. So I found some great tips I thought I would share with you.

Create Intimacy - Ok so this is one of PC's and I's biggest problems. I think it's all too easy to get caught up in daily life and lose that. We work opposite schedules, have different days off and only see each other a few days a week. Here's a few things I think we need to try.

• Lie down on the bed and spend two minutes looking into each other's eyes without saying anything. (Blinking is OK.)
• Next time you're in bed pull the covers over your head and have a whispered conversation. If you whisper first he'll probably whisper back—it's incredibly intimate.

Speak - I think we forget to talk to each other sometimes. I don't mean that we don't say anything, but we aren't really talking to each other.

• Say something positive—anything at all. Researchers have found that happy couples have a ratio of five positive comments to each negative comment.
• Compliment something that he's improved upon.
• Tell him he makes you a better person, and then tell him how.

Kiss every day for at least 10 seconds - This may sound silly, but the research shows that couples that connect through physical touch every day are happier overall in their relationships. Now at times, the last thing you may want to do is kiss your spouse; I understand that. However even if we are not feeling something, sometimes the action changes how we feel. So plant a big one on your spouse tonight!

Compliment your spouse at least once a day. Yep, I know I fail miserably at this one, but I'm going to try harder.

Go on a date - PC and I used to go on a date every week. We have slacked off. I find that when we go on our weekly dates I felt so much closer to him.

I found these tips at Mental Health Matters and Your Tango.

I also purchased The Love Dare app for the iPod touch. I'm going to do my best to get my marriage back to where it should be.

National Stop Bullying Day

Today is National Stop Bullying Day! I think with all the teen suicides that have been in the news lately it's so important to bring this to light and put a stop to it.

I have gathered some information to share with you from Stop Bullying Now and a great website for parents to share with their children Hey Ugly. Just to make it clear UGLY stands for Unique Gifted Lovable You.


A lot of young people have a good idea of what bullying is because they see it every day! Bullying happens when someone hurts or scares another person on purpose and the person being bullied has a hard time defending himself or herself. Usually, bullying happens over and over.

• Punching, shoving, and other acts that hurt people physically
• Spreading bad rumors about people
• Keeping certain people out of a "group"
• Teasing people in a mean way
• Getting certain people to "gang up" on others

Bullying also can happen online or electronically. Cyberbullying is when children or teens bully each other using the Internet, mobile phones or other cyber technology. This can include:

• Sending mean text, email, or instant messages

• Posting nasty pictures or messages about others in blogs or on Web sites
• Using someone else's user name to spread rumors or lies about someone  

Go this site for some Prevention and Intervention information. We can help!

American Poverty

I have stated to a few of you that I had planned to bring awareness to something every Wednesday. I feel it's important to educate everyone I possibly can on these issues that I can. Even if 1 person learns something new then I will be happy.

With all that said January is American Poverty awareness month. I don't think that any of us who don't live it really understand just how bad it is. So with some information I got from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops I want to bring to light just how bad this is.

There are approximately 37.3 million Americans living below the poverty line. 1 in 6 children (that's 18%) fall into that category. This is so troublesome to me. I hate to think of any child going hungry or going to bed without food. It saddens me that we haven't found a better way to ensure that our children are cared for.

There are so many simple ways that we can help. You could find a local food bank and donate any items in your pantry that you won't be eating. We all buy stuff we think we are going to use but then we don't. I have been couponing for over a year now and it struck me the other day that it'd be so easy to get something with my coupons that is either free or cheap and donate those items to the food pantry. It wouldn't cost much if anything at all and it could really help a family in need. If you coupon please consider this option.

Feeding America is another great program helping families. If you can afford a small donation then send it. I do a lot of online surveys and I have decided to start donating a portion of my earnings to this cause. It won't cost me anything to do it and again I'll be helping a family in need. One in eight Americans depend on Feeding America to put food in their stomach. If you can help in any way it would be wonderful.

There are a ton of small ways that we can help people, even if we can't afford to take it out of our paycheck. You just have to get a little creative!