Honey Badger Has Been Quiet, and Here is Why…

Honey Badger has been very quiet of late, as we have had some serious health, personal and school related issues crop up over the past month or so. I wont go into the personal or health related stuff, but because of the tragedy in Newton, I will get into the school related things.

I don’t talk much about my son and his struggles here on this blog. I try to find levity and irreverence and post it here, and sometimes the things he does create that levity. My son is Autistic Spectrum. I blew my stack when media began reporting that the shooter (I WILL NOT mention his name) was ASD or had Aspergers. Autism, ASD, Aspergers, etc DO NOT cause this type of behavior. My son does not have a malicious bone in his body, but I cannot help but worry now that since he is in an integrated (inclusion) classroom, that kids like him will become stigmatized because of this maniac. I will say it again, AUTISM, ASD, ASPERGERS, etc DO NOT CAUSE THIS TYPE OF BEHAVIOR.

Now, another reason why I am talking about this. We have had ongoing incidents at school where my son has been put into bad situations during bathroom time. The school he attends used to be a High School, so there are no bathrooms in the classrooms like you would see in a typical elementary school. Students go to a shared bathroom down the hall from their classrooms. In October, my son came to me and told me that there were “kids he didn’t know” misbehaving, pushing and shoving each other, pushing and shoving him, and then according to him, “they yelled at me when I told them to stop because I was going to slip on the wet floor and then they started splashing water on me”. Teachers in neighboring classrooms have had to come out of their class to break up the activity, as it was loud enough to be heard.

I contacted the teachers and told them about it and they assured me that my son was innocent in the whole event (or should I say events – he mentioned multiple times/days) and that they didn’t realize that each teacher was releasing kids at the same time, so there were 12+ kids (ages 5,6, and 7) in there, free to fool around.

I was reassured that a new system was in place and all would be fine. On Election Day, we had our Parent/Teacher conference, and we asked if anything else happened, and all was fine. We were also told about how great our son is doing, how he is getting along with the other kids, the other kids really like him, etc

Fast forward a week or so later. My son comes home and does the “A,B,C,D and E” were splashing water at me in the bathroom again. Here we go again. We start questioning him and discover that not only were they doing this, “the watched me when I was peeing and wouldn’t let me shut the door”. He knew the splashing was inappropriate behavior, but didn’t know the other wasn’t until we told him….needless to say he became upset. This was a Friday and I wrote a note to send in on Monday. I told the teachers I want Jack to go to the nurse during bathroom time from now on, and reinforced it was not their fault, because there is no way to have supervision in the bathroom due to staffing, which has now become a gigantic issue in my/our book. The teachers were not in on that Monday, but I received a call from the aid in the room and was told the teachers will be back the following day and my son will use the nurse’s office. He came home, and forgot at one point to go to the nurse, and it happened again.

We call a meeting with the teachers, the principal and the school psychologist. I will not get into the specifics of the meeting, but will just say that there was an emphasis on how my son “perceived” what happened, versus what “actually happened”. We said “OK, but if there was an adult present, this would be a moot point because you would KNOW what was happening”. Subsequently, our son would come home to us and say “so and so pushed me today, or hit me today, or did xyz to me today (the kids from the bathroom incident). Interesting how everything was fine a month ago. We are now in contact with his teacher every day and she lets us know what happens during the day, and apparently, our son is having “extreme” reactions to things such as “HE PUSHED ME” where as it was just a “bumped into” or “HE YELLED AT ME” and it was not a kid yelling at him, it was just a kid yelling. Add to this he is making up stories at home which are being contradicted by staff in the classroom. Anyway, my husband and I believe our son 100% and know this is a bullying issue and a lack of supervision issue and now that every eye is on interactions our son has and is having, it will be seen. We have discussed with the school psych that our sons “stimming” behavior at home (behaviors that are irregular, but are self soothing and relaxing for him so we let him do it) has increased 10 fold over since the bathroom incident and bullying. The reasoning we are being given is that “it’s the increased stressors of first grade work load, scheduling, demand, etc.” We will go with that and the “its our son’s interpretation”…..until they see it…..then we will have our glorified “I told you so”….

Anyway, the Sandy Hook tragedy has me sick. As a teacher, I have done lock down drills and the coat closet was my place of choice. That could have been me. I now have a 1^st grader. That could have been him. Then the pit in my stomach reached an all time low. My child could have been in the unsupervised bathroom if this were his school. Before locking their doors, teachers looked in the hall and grabbed kids in the hallway. What about my son? If my son being violated because of lack of supervision is not spurring action to warrant a course of action to not allow 5,6 and 7 year olds to be unsupervised, THIS event has to.

I have been stigmatized within my school as “a trouble maker” and “complainer” because I have rocked the boat about things that made me say “hey! What is up with this? What if X,Y,Z happens?” I have been pegged as over reactive, and heck, basically a bitch. It has really taken a toll on me, REALLY taken a toll on me. But you know what? It was unfortunately MY kid who had a bad experience in the bathroom, “even after 8 years of having the bathroom unsupervised”. On the flip side, it was MY kid’s experience that illustrated the issue I have been adamant about, and unfortunately, it took 20 innocent lives to prove the point. It took those 20 innocent lives for me to not look like an idiot and my speaking up to be brushed off. It took those 20 innocent lives for me to pull me out of the drudgery of my life I have been experiencing because I think differently than everyone else, react to things differently than everyone else, and see the world differently than everyone else.

I had to deactivate my FB account because I just couldn’t take it anymore. People trying to defend gun rights in this and still not seeing how this could have been me as a teacher, me as your child’s teacher, me as a mother, you as a parent, etc. But again “Im over reactive, Im a complainer, Im narrow minded, etc”. No one will probably see this as I usually cross post on FB, but at least it is out there. We need to have these discussions NOW. Discussions starting with gun control, and then discussions about identifying mental issues, treating mental issues and providing support to loved ones for mental issues, and then discussing Autism and ASD so that my son and others like him will not be stigmatized because of one person’s actions.

Ketchup With Us Writing Prompt #4

KETCHUP WITH US’ – Prompt #4

In 57 WORDS OR LESS, retell the plot line of your favorite horror movie.

Of course I put my own twist on this:

After escaping a freak weather phenomenon, a girl wakes in a strange land and is pursued by an evil necromancer, seeking revenge for the death of her sister. The young girl is captured by two organ seeking fiends, and a phobic feline who has seen their wrath. She gets expelled from the land by a fake demagogue.

Honey Badger is HAPPILY Awaiting the 1st Day of School!

OK, so tomorrow is the small child’s first day of 1st Grade! HOOORAY! I think I may set up a Mimosa stand at the bus stop. Aside from the usual paper signing, pencil sharpening (40!) and back pack organizing, I had a separate assignment that I needed to complete before tomorrow:

TELL US ABOUT YOUR CHILD!

Ummmm…..OK…….well…..you asked for it….

(for informational purposes, small child’s Special Ed Preschool Teacher from 2 years ago has moved into 1st grade. We LOVE her and have not seen her since, so she already knows him)

This is what I sent:

Some stuff about

SEOUL MAN/SMALL CHILD
(full name changed for privacy…..ain’t gonna help. Placing another dollar in the Therapy Jar)

 

Nothing has changed since Premm.

Really. It hasn’t. He is the same.

Ok, well some things have changed, but not really.

He is still a parrot in child’s clothing who mimics the hilarity of others, usually when most inappropriate. If there is an attention seeking child in the class this year, keep him/her far away from Seoul Man as it will be a comedy routine, but a little less Abbott/Costello and a little more 3 Stooges with Seoul Man as Shemp.

He still thrives on routine and will readily alert you to when/what/where the next activity is to be. If you ever need to remind yourself to do something, simply ask small child to remind you, up to a week in advance, and he will do so better than a hotel wake-up service.

He still prefers idle time to himself, and instead of playing, will draw the same thing over and over again, or write your morning message (if you have one) over and over. If you want, have him write your morning messages for the month. He could probably complete the task over the course of an indoor recess.

His photographic/rote memory has gotten much more advanced. If you think he isn’t listening, ask him to repeat what you just said and he will tell you word for word. Then a week later, ask him to repeat what you said a week ago. He will probably remember what you were wearing too. Try it, its fun!

His internal GPS is equally as impressive. Ask him how to get to <insert store> he will give you turn by turn directions. I think he is Siri.

He is still very literal in his interpretations and has little to no understanding of conceptual humor/sarcasm/irony/symbolism/idioms/puns, etc. If you ask him “What’s New Jack?” expect an answer relating to the new purchase of something, which may or may not be embarrassing (disclaimer). If when asking a relatively obvious question, i.e. “Where am I going to take a shower tonight?” and you respond humorously with “Where do you think you are going to take a shower? We’re going to make you take a shower outside with the hose”, expect to find a naked child 5 minutes later on the back patio waiting to get washed and a knock on the front door from CPS. (True story, minus CPS)

Well that’s a nutshell of a snapshot of Seoul Man! Welcome back Ms. Cheryl! We are SO happy you will be with us this year! If small child progresses ½ of how he progressed when you had him 2 years ago, it will be a successful year! If you need anything from us, please let us know!

OH! One more thing. Don’t show him your wallet……

Submission for “Ketchup with Us” – Advice

Here is one entry for “Ketchup with Us” – sadly it is the first thing that came to mind. With a week to submit entries, there may be more….

The contest:

We ask that you respond to the prompt in 57 (yes, FIFTY-SEVEN) words or less. You can write a story, poem, experience, post your own picture, a song you wrote in the shower or whatever strikes your fancy. All we ask is for your creativity (and we know you guys have PLENTY of that)!

 

 

 

 

From an old farmer, who may or may not exist only in my mind:

PROPER GOAT MILKING ADVICE:

When milking a goat, choose the teat closest to you and squeeze with your middle finger, then your ring finger, and then your pinky, in one smooth, successive motion. Repeat. If goat only has 1 teat, make sure you at a minimum, get  dinner and a phone call the next day.

Honey Badger offers Financial Planning Advice

I really need to get this off my chest and I don’t want to post it to Facebook as it will cause additional “issues” with me discussing “in public”, but I REALLY feel it is my duty to put this out there so what is happening to us does not happen to your children. I am not promoting this post either, so if you stumbled on this, I hope it helps you.

RETIREMENT

If you are just entering the work force, and have yourself your first real job, and your job offers a 401K retirement plan, BEGIN CONTRIBUTING TO IT IMMEDIATELY! I don’t care if you are an 18 year old mail person at a big corporation, or a secretary at a small company, or a newly hired specialist with a starting salary of 6 figures. BEGIN CONTRIBUTING TO IT NOW! If you say you cannot afford to do it, speak to your HR people, or payroll people and have them figure out how much money you can contribute PRE TAX that would allow you to keep YOUR SAME SALARY! 401K contributions are PRE-TAX, so in layman’s terms, or a layman’s explanation, you may be able to put 50 bucks into your 401K PRE-TAX and because the money is PRE-TAX, you will probably have the same take home. Even if it is only 10 bucks, DO IT.

Teachers, cops, any other public employee with pension systems: Your pensions are no longer a given. One word: Wisconsin. In New York State, we have a 403B program that is basically a public version of a private 401K. Look into it for you state and DO IT.

Waiting a year or two when you are right out of school, I will say that is ok, but IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN, DO IT IMMEDIATELY!

COLLEGE SAVINGS vs. RETIREMENT

If you have children, and are unable to focus on both retirement and college savings, CHOOSE RETIREMENT. Saddling your kids with student loans is much less detrimental on your kid’s future than saddling them with supporting you, especially when they have small children that will eventually need to go to college and you don’t want to burden them with your issues.

LIFE INSURANCE

If you have anyone who depends on you, you owe it to them to protect them should something happen to you. If your employer offers one, DO IT, it will be cheaper than on your own. If you do not have access to it, get the CHEAPEST THING that would at least cover your burial expenses. Making your children have to take out a loan to cover your final expenses is ridiculous. IF YOU HAVE NO HEALTH INSURANCE, AND CANNOT AFFORD IT – pay the 20 bucks a month for a small policy. Of course I am not equating having no health insurance with, you know, dying anytime soon, but speak to a financial expert to ensure that if something should happen to you, the $$ from the policy go specifically to whoever will be in charge of your final expenses.

SELF EMPLOYMENT

Ok, if you are self-employed and work for yourself (if you own your own company and people work for you, of course as part of your business plan you will be responsible for your own payroll, insurance and offerings) – SPEAK TO A FINANCIAL ADVISER and make sure he/she points you in the right direction. A GOOD FINANCIAL ADVISER will not charge you to meet with you. They make their money on the back end of things (life insurance, mutual funds, etc). Since you are self-employed, you will need to do/provide everything yourself.

Make sure you use an ACCOUNTANT as well to do your books and knows tax codes. You need someone who will be able to analyze things without emotion or connection. You need someone who sees your business as facts and figures. You need someone to tell you “This isn’t working”.

If an account tells you “this isn’t working”, set a deadline to turn things around. It can be a month, 6 months, a year, or even a time frame an accountant would be able to pinpoint. Get help if need be. You may think your business is worth a million bucks, especially if you work 24 hours a day trying to make it happen, but if you have a family, you are only dragging them in deeper and deeper into a business quagmire. You need to differentiate between what is a “hobby” or “specialty” and reality. If you love what you do, then do it on the side.

Bottom line is, if you are in a failed business, shutting down and flipping burgers at Mickey D’s is more helpful to your family – you are getting paid and bringing home a paycheck. If you set up your business correctly (i.e making sure you and your business are separate entities) you can settle the issues with your business and not have it impact you personally – hopefully.

CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND YOUR CONTROL

Of course, things can happen to you that are out of you control, i.e. losing your job, being hit with a bad illness, being in an accident resulting in an inability to work, etc. I’M NOT DIRECTING THIS TO YOU. This is for people who either may not know what to do – I just offered you some guidance, from the perspective of your children who will be at the receiving end of this. I am also directing this to people who LIVE BEYOND THEIR MEANS. If you don’t believe that you live beyond your means, I give you this test: If you get a lump sum of money (i.e. perhaps a tax return, a nice gift from someone, a bonus at work, etc), before you dump it into a really nice vacation, or put some unnecessary work into your house, or a high tech do dad you really don’t need, etc ask yourself: “are all the important needs of my family met?” “Am I living on my credit cards?” “Do I live paycheck to paycheck and have no savings?” If you answered YES to any of the above, then take your lump sum of $$ and go to a financial advisor ASAP.

Your children in their 40’s with young children themselves, trying to do the right thing, will thank you for it.

ODNT Contest

I have been neglecting my blog of late but managed to find a little bit of time to crank out an entry for a contest.

For more info, go here!

http://olddognewtits.com/2012/06/15/jud-bill-are-hosting-a-contest-with-a-prize/

I was inspired by this photo that circulated the interweb this week, and even though “its a drone”, it gave me a good idea!

With this, I present “Bill and Jud, the day after”

 

August 1^st, 2011

 

Bill,

Had the weirdest dream last night and you were in it! I dreamt Buddy and I were driving home from the ball game, and as we passed over the Tappan Zee Bridge, we saw this light up in the sky. It was just kind of hovering and flashing all these different colored lights. We drove further up the Palisades, we could see it in the distance, getting larger as we got closer. When we got to around Bear Mountain, it was like it was hovering over that way. We drove through the woods and parked so we could walk over by the lake. Sure enough, there it was! Weird. It was kind of round, had lights around it, and was probably hovering about 20 feet off the ground. It had like a spot light and it was crossing the ground, like it was looking for something. So Buddy and I were looking at this, then all of a sudden, the spot light turns on us, and BAM! I went blind, got really stiff, and felt like I was being floated towards the ship! When I got my eye sight back, it was as if I fell asleep and woke up. I was naked in this room and laying on a table of some sort.   I turned my head and you were there on the next table and you had this look of horror on your face. I was wondering where Jean was. With that, I did that fuzzy fall asleep thing again, and woke up in bed. Buddy must have given me some strong stuff, stronger than the stuff I grew in the back yard that time, because I don’t even remember him dropping me off after the game and me going to bed. I have to say though, you looked good. The 16 pounds makes a difference.

 

Anyway, Mrs. J is coming by later….I’m going to ask her if she thinks using Ahtanum hops instead of Fuggle would make the home brew taste better. Going to give it a try tomorrow.

 

Jud

 

August 2^nd, 2011

 

Jud,

Wow, I had the same dream. I tried the stuff I grew and there must be something wrong. I knew I was going to have trouble growing here. I suppose it is the lack of rain. I guess if you like weird trips it is good, but a little too much for me.

Jean found this weird scar on my arm today. I don’t remember doing anything to myself. Maybe when the guy sat on me at the game, he scratched me and I didn’t know, and it swelled up today.

 

Where did you decide to brew? I still say go for the pool.

 

Bill

Honey Badger Vs. 50 Shades of Grey

Wow…its been quite a while since I last posted….let us see…we’ve had strep, bronchitis, sinus infections, pneumonia, cancelled surgeries, etc in my home the past month or so, and it’s just been a bit nutty….

I’m back, and I have been stewing on this one for a while….so here we go!

Alright, so unless if you have been living in a cave all this time, you have been bombarded with all things “50 Shades of Grey”. For the cave dwellers, 50 Shades of Grey is a book trilogy that is, well, best described as “Mommy Porn”. Here, this video says it all

http://www.hulu.com/watch/358341/saturday-night-live-amazon-mothers-day-ad

It seems to me that all of a sudden, women are interested in reading this and are forming book clubs and discussions about it. Even the FB page of my son’s school turned into a 50 response thread about the book (mind you, my post about why the school does so poorly on State Testing only received 2 unique user responses, both of which were “special ed and ESL bring our scores down”. The rest of the posts were from me and were my analysis of how my special ed child is not a scape goat for bad test results, and further provided statistics showing that 1/2 the gen ed kids were failing the tests too…ok…I digress….)

I just CANNOT give into this craze and here is why…

CURRENTLY, there is a WAR being waged on Women. Well, there always has been a war on women. We have always been seen as the “inferior race”, only obtaining our right to vote in 1920. Could you believe it? And to just really rub that pickle juice in the cancor sore, the movement started after the civil war! Heres some more insanity:

“On January 12, 1915, a suffrage bill was brought before the House of Representatives but was defeated by a vote of 204 to 174. Another bill was brought before the House on January 10, 1918. On the evening before, President Wilson made a strong and widely published appeal to the House to pass the bill. It was passed by two-thirds of the House, with only one vote to spare. The vote was then carried into the Senate. Again President Wilson made an appeal, but on September 30, 1918, the amendment fell two votes short of passage.On February 10, 1919, it was again voted upon, and then it was lost by only one vote.”

Yes, I snagged that from Wikipedia.

So again, COULD YOU IMAGINE?

So then we finally get the right to vote, but women were still just “too emotional” to handle “difficult jobs” and “higher education”. Dont believe me? Google it.

So then we do get into the work force and do the jobs “women shouldnt be doing” and we get paid less.

ANOTHER perfect example:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/355082/30-rock-breaking-news-east-coast

I gave you the East Coast Version, as it was the one I saw. Brian Williams does the West Coast and is equally funny.

Ok, back to the rant!

So yes, things HAVE changed for the better. Women are now bread winners. We have the ability to be highly educated, be employed in any field we want, etc. So what can possibly be targeted now, considering our status is (almost) on equal footing as our male counterparts. Oh ya….our bodies.

First it was Komen pulling funds from Planned Parenthood. Then it was the nitwit from some bumf*!$ backwards place somewhere who said that disabled children are “god’s way of punishing the mother for having a previous abortion” (Google it – and oh ya! It was an elected official that said this). THEN it was a bill introduction in Oklahoma that outlawed abortion – even in the cases of INCEST AND RAPE. Really? Ok, and finally, more bills sitting to be voted on that would MANDATE an INTERNAL SONOGRAM before an abortion.

Oh wait, that wasnt the last one. The last one was the Catholic Church’s hissy fit about being mandated to offer contraceptive options (AKA the PILL) to women they employ via their health care offerings. OK fine, BC is against your religion, whatever, but to that I say A) not all women are “Whores” (Thanks Rush!) and require BC for MEDICAL ISSUES! Like ME for instance! My cancer treatments and surgeries have left me a bit “off” and as I get older, it gets worse. I get MENSTRUAL MIGRAINES that have been alleviated by a SPECIAL type of pill (and I emphasize that because the argument(s) to the whole situation is “get your BC from a clinic from PP or pay out-of-pocket”. Well, I did my research and discovered that MY medication – Birth Control Medication – is NOT offered by these programs. As it is, its $50 COPAY. I believe it is $200 a month without insurance. OK, so if I worked for Notre Dame, I would be out of work a few days a month as I would sit at home and writhe in pain when I could be productive and healthy is my pill were covered.

Oh – I got so carried away…..B) Separation of Church and State? Heard of that one? Yeah, if you are going to throw a tantrum like a 2-year-old, then maybe the Federal Gov’t should be open on Christmas, and Schools should work on Good Friday, etc. Yeah….you cant have it both ways…

OK – so what the &!*% does this have to do with 50 Shades of Grey????

Remember way back when….when Oprah still had her talk show? Yeah….remember her book club? Remember how it would take books and put them at the top of the New York Times Best Sellers List? Remember how she inspired her audience to read things outside of their “box” and discuss it? Things such as the classics (Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities), works with different cultural perspectives (The Good Earth, Cry The Beloved Country), works from inspirational people (Maya Angelou), and just GREAT fiction….

We, WOMEN, are again capable of intelligent conversation, gaining knowledge and experiences through words, coming together to share in critical thinking, evaluation, interpolation, reflection….WE ARE SMART AND POWERFUL! WE ARE WOMEN! HEAR US ROAR!!!

Oprah leaves, takes her book club, and what fills the void? 50 Shades of Grey.

Here are the headline reviews of the book:

• Discreetly Digital, Erotic Novel Sets American Women Abuzz New York Times
• ”Forbes: Will Fifty Shades Of Grey Make ‘Mommy Porn’ The Next Big Thing?””. Forbes.com. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2012/03/19/will-fifty-shades-of-grey-make-mommy-porn-the-next-big-thing/. Retrieved 2012-05-07.
• “Erotic novel ’50 Shades of Grey’ unites gals, unnerves some guys”. Fox News. 2010-04-07. http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/03/14/erotic-novel-50-shades-grey-unites-women-unnerves-some-men/. Retrieved 2012-05-07.
• ”LA Times: The Envelope”: 50 Shades of Grey has studios hot and bothered”. Latimesblogs.latimes.com. http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/313901/New-queen-of-the-bonkbuster. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
•  ‘Mommy porn’ novel has retro message CNN
• Mommy porn?: Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James: review Telegraph
•  Fifty Shades of Grey: The undressed review Ledger-Enquirer
•  The ‘mommy porn’ seducing women New Zealand Herald
• Book Review | Fifty Shades Of Grey: Sultry subject spells success Columbus Dispatch
• Fifty shades of grey as dull as a razor blade commercial Metro News Canada
• ”Publishers Weekly”: E L James and the Case of Fan Fiction”. Publishersweekly.com.
• Five Things Wrong with This Year’s ‘Time 100’ Atlantic Wire
• Spanking Goes Mainstream Daily Beast/Newsweek
• Fifty Shades of Grey”: Dominatrixes take on Roiphe Salon

OK – I WILL GO ON RECORD TO SAY I HAVE NOOOOO PROBLEM WITH THE SEXUAL CONTENT AT ALLLLLLLLL…..

I have a problem with the fact that it’s a CRAPPILY written book. It started out as Twilight Fan Fiction. Oh, and DONT Get me started about Twilight. Stephen King sums up Twilight PERFECTLY:

I wont gripe on Twilight because it’s for tweens and teens, and heck, encouraging children to read something, ANYTHING, and have enjoyment surrounding it…that’s a GOOD thing. I’ll take it. But when WOMEN are giggling like school girls over CRAPPILY WRITTEN prose and having book discussions over a work that just is devoid of all writing skill, skills that you can even learn in a “beginner writing class” or “Writing for Dummies”, IT MAKES US LOOK STUPID!

If you are reading the book, and having your discussions, that’s fine..Im not calling you stupid. But when so much BUZZ is created because of it, it puts the perception out there that this is the only thing we can handle, and we are too emotional and fragile and embark upon working “difficult jobs” and obtaining “higher education”. Cue the 30 ROCK Reporter skit again and combine it with the current social and political climate….

If you are going to read the book…do me a favor? Pick something else to read after it? Like….pick up the Hunger Games? Ya, it’s a tween/teen book, but its Intelligent/Well Done writing with a very deep story line. Peruse Oprah’s list. Do something!

If the world ends as we know it tomorrow, please don’t let the future/post apocalyptic us look back and base our existence on the current NY Times Best Seller List for this week? Check it out….look at the top 3….

For the record…I just chugged through the Game of Thrones Series and am currently on the latest book. I think the author gets paid by the word, but its a story that makes you really need to think….and I have to say…probably a very comparable sex to story ratio to the “mommy porn”…..

Trifextra Weekend Edition

OK – here are the rules for the next one…http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/

Entrants must write a horror story in 33 words exactly, without the words blood, scream, died, death, knife, gun or kill.

I live on Long Island! So I give you:

The Beach:

The officer released his K9 into the dunes, not expecting to find anything other than debris blown in from the public beach.

His partner barked, then dug, exposing the first body of many.

I have surfed at “The Serial Killer Beach” more times than I can count…it will never be the same!

Trifecta Writing Weekday Challenge

I like to participate in the Weekend Challenges, where I can usually write up a funny quip, but never really had the time brainstorm to participate in the Weekday challenge that is often more detailed and involved. But this week, specifically today, I had a muse to provide my inspiration.

A new report came out today about the increasing rates of Autism. It is now 1 in 88. Sure, a lot can be attributed to increases in awareness, hence the reason for the increase, but there is an issue out there that needs addressing. What very much upset me though was not the study, but the responses of people on Facebook, Yahoo, our local news, etc and their views of the study, and more specifically, their views of autistic children and their parents. I kid you not that there are individuals who believe that it is all a sham, and that poor parental disciplining is the reason, i.e. people dont know how to control their kids, so they pull out the autism label. Those people readily suggested “ass kickings” and “beating” and how such methods worked on them and “they grew up fine”. Other people readily express their opinion that the dx is just handed out with no backing (you have to jump through many a test and hurdle to get the dx). One person, using their Facebook Profile to post their opinion, stated, and I copied their comment: “They have always been around. We called them “Group 3”, “special class”, “window kickers”, etc. It seemed as though they were always going to the Zoo, or some other cool place. It was the opposite of “inclusion”. Where do I vote for a return to that policy?”

My jaw is currently on the floor.

So, since I havent written a blog in a while, I figured I would combine the Trifecta into some advocacy for my child. Advocacy against the ignoramuses in the world that he will have to deal with on a regular basis.

Here is a link to the challenge. http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/

I have to use the word “Cheap” according to the 3rd Definition of the word, and write between 33 and 333 words

cheap adj \ˈchēp\

1   a : purchasable below the going price or the real value

     b : charging or obtainable at a low price <a good cheaphotel> <cheap tickets>

     c : depreciated in value (as by currency inflation) <cheapdollars>

2   : gained or done with little effort <a cheap victory> <talk ischeap>

3   a : of inferior quality or worth : tawdry, sleazy <cheapworkmanship>

     b : contemptible because of lack of any fine, lofty, or redeeming qualities <feeling cheap>

So without further adieu…

Different

My son is “Spectrum”. He does not possess all of the criteria for a full blown “Autism” Diagnosis, but he does exhibit enough to be considered “Spectrum”. I remember the moment like it was yesterday. The moment I tilted my head and looked at him puzzlingly, realizing he didn’t speak anymore. He didn’t point, he didn’t make his needs/wants known. He played in isolation, and in repetitive fashion. He was like a shadow.

That was 4 years ago. We went through a lot to get him where he is now. On the surface, he “appears normal”. He is social. He is funny. He is a great kid. He goes to Kindergarten. He loves school.

But there is something. Something there that makes him stand out as “different”. He is friendly with his classmates, but he is like a shadow. He doesn’t initiate, but he follows. He plays alone. He has his rituals and necessary habits, such as lining up his Hot Wheels cars, or writing the same thing over, and over and over again. Even when presented with the latest craze in toys, toys his peers would be begging their parents for, he prefers bags of cheap, multicolored pom poms from the dollar store. He loves to arduously and meticulously glue them, row by row, column by column on paper. Tasks that most children would find boringly repetitive and unappealing will occupy him for hours.

I was devastated when we found out. Devastated. My child would never be “normal”. He will always struggle in society. He will always struggle to fit in. Then I tilted my head again while watching him. Watching him write the same thing for the 10^th time in a row.

That brain of his is amazing. It sees the world in a much different way than the rest of us. That is not something to be sad about. That is something to be envious of. Only time will tell how that brain will do wonderful things for this world.

Trifextra Entry

and I may be too late to enter but what the heck! I’ll try!

This weekend’s challenge…

Rules: All entries must total exactly 33 words and they must include the word ‘Lost’ in the title but not in the story itself.

So heres mine….

LOST

Plane crash, an island, a smoke monster, “others”, a hatch, a computer, a really big wheel, getting off the island, “WE HAVE TO GO BACK!”

Now you’re caught up and don’t need Netflix!

http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/