I Love to Read!

February is I Love To Read month, and also I might point out Black History Month.  The kids had the opportunity to dress up like their favourite book characters.  I enjoyed helping them with their costumes, especially with Asha's face paint.  Why don't I do this with the kids more often?  Seriously, it was so much fun!  Maybe we'll have to institute Face Painting Fridays at our house......

Birthday Boy

Joel celebrated his 10th birthday this weekend.  We also celebrated my mom's birthday on the same day.  We always laugh about how we were late in calling her for her birthday, but when we called at almost midnight, the lateness was excused when we said, Happy Birthday Grandma.

Joel loves burgers so you can imagine that's what he requested for his birthday lunch.  We went to a burger joint which had amazing food.  Oh my!  Then we headed back to our house so he could enjoy his new presents.  Between the e-reader and the lego set, he was occupied for hours.  He also was pretty thrilled with his new Fresno State jersey, the camouflage apron, and his skateboard.

It seems like yesterday that he was learning to crawl and now he's almost as tall as me, 4'11" and that doesn't count the 4 inches of hair that stand off his head.  He's been growing his hair for the last year and his afro is pretty amazing by now.  We're proud that he has managed that amount of hair and it looks awesome.

He's grown into quite the pianist and we enjoy hearing the music that he makes.  Joel is doing well in school and his favourite subject is math.  That makes me proud!  But he's also an avid reader like his dad.  Over Christmas Carl had bought him a thick book that he knew Joel would love.  Instead of taking a few days or even a week to read the book, Joel was so enraptured with the book, he stayed up all night on Christmas day to finish it.  Hence, we bought him an e-reader so now we can download books to his heart's content.

What a boy Joel is. It's mind-boggling how quickly he's growing up and the conversations that we can now have and the activities we can do together.  Yet he still loves to come for a hug and a cuddle; he told me he'll never outgrow that.  We love him very much and can't imagine life without him.

Ocupada

I haven't blogged this week because I'm writing a paper.  And tackling laundry and spending time with my kids, cooking and baking and generally procrastinating by playing useless little games or organizing my end table drawer, again.

The paper is due tomorrow and then Friday is a bit of a big day, then Saturday I'm volunteering with Kezia and then on Sunday it's Birthday Party Time and a gymnastics competition.

If you were hoping to see me before Monday, sorry that I let you down.  But you'll be fine.

Thoughts from a Book

For my class I am doing quite a bit of reading.  Most of it is interesting and a lot of it is thought provoking.  Next week I have a 10 page book review due and so I'm madly reading this book because I thought it looked interesting.  I guess I shouldn't be blogging then!  I'm starting to have a bit of an interest in trauma in children and adults, I think as I have been braver at reflecting on my own past.

I have been highlighting this book to make sure that I don't miss key things that the author is trying to impress on his readers.  For example, physical evidence in our brains can be detected when we've experienced trauma.  If a person is constantly in a state of fear and stress their brain is forever being bathed in hormones not meant to be released over a long period of time, which can damage it.  That makes it almost impossible for the child to accomplish higher cognitive functions, like reading and social skills.  Certain behavioural issues, an uneven gait in our walk, or even the inability to have rhythm can be symptoms of childhood trauma.

There's a lot of people out there who have experienced trauma.  Some studies say 39% of the population has witnessed a violent crime, been abused or neglected in some way.  That's a lot of broken people.  What's even sadder is that though many have had trauma inflicted because an adult chose to hurt them, others have been unknowingly neglected or hurt.  There's a lot of healing that needs to happen, a lot of restoration to many hurting people.  It feels like it could be a daunting task, but

So that's how I'm able to read such heavy and depressing stuff without being completely overwhelmed with sorrow.  My heart is broken, but it's not crushed.

He goes on to say that the way to treat children whom have experienced trauma is to have a safe and predictable environment for them, surrounded by many caring people connecting to them in healthy relationships.  Depending on the timing of the trauma, their home environment, and adults in their lives, could be the difference between growing up to being a productive adult, a broken individual  or worse, a sociopath. 

Sometimes the difference could be a few words.  Or healthy touch.  An intentional relationship.  Look around.  Is there a hurting child that you could reach out to?

Steps to a New Way

It started in California that I really became aware of this whole movement of eating local, less waste, making a smaller carbon footprint.   Before that in Winnipeg, I had used my reusable shopping bags and recycled everything in sight, so I wouldn't have considered myself an earth killer!  But I was still unaware of many areas that I was contributing negatively to the environment.

Now being back from Bolivia and California, I have realized that in some places it's easier to eat local and much easier to shop at stores that offer little to no packaging.  I don't live in a tropical place where fruit is grown all year round right in your town, and I don't know if there are soap bars here in the city that offer bulk shampoo where you can fill up your glass bottles.  Sigh.....But there are a few ways that I can change my lifestyle here and now that will better for the earth.  Bit by bit.

Last year I got creative and started hunting around on certain websites about woman-y stuff.  We had made a conscious effort to do cloth with our babies because we didn't want to add to the landfills (and lived in places where water wasn't an issue for washing), so I thought about how every month I head to the drugstore, pick up a package of hygiene products and them ending up in the landfill.  What I found was this so I was inspired to pull out my sewing machine and voila! I made a bunch of eco-friendly liners. Then in conversation a friend said to me, you have to go and buy this too.  So that's what I did.  Okay, if you are of the male gender, maybe you're getting a little tired of talking about such intimate stuff, so I'll change the subject.

I came across this blog and have been mostly inspired, and at a few times left with guilt.  It has certain got me thinking about all the stuff that we buy and then throw out or even recycle.  I love her mantra, "Refuse what you do not need, Reduce what you do need, Reuse what you consume, Recycle what you cannot refuse, reduce or reuse, and Rot the rest".  In a post a while back she said that every time we shop, we vote for that product.  So what are we voting for?  Voting for more packaging and garbage?  Or lets go a little farther, Are we voting for companies that not only exploit our earth but our fellow human beings?  I ordered myself this little book that hopefully will help me make better shopping choices, for the earth and for people.  I could go on and on about how important it is to shop fair trade, but maybe I'll save that for another post.

So what am I doing this afternoon?  Making these.  With cold and flu season here, I am amazed at how many tissues we are using.  And my biggest pet peeve?  When someone uses 4 tissues for a 1 tissue job, leaving the rest of us without tissues.  Arg!  Although when I mentioned to Carl that I wanted to make handkerchiefs, he didn't think they were sanitary.  Well, I came across a TON of left over flannel from all the rag quilts I have made, so there will be no shortage of hankies around here.  No need to use them twice.  And the way that we do laundry here, they will be washed in no time.  Now to do some research on homemade laundry soap or soap nuts.....

He Does What?!

I don't think I have ever shared here what Carl does for a living as pointed out by a friend in California.  Oops, a slight oversight on my part.  Sorry honey!  He does have a job in Human Resources with MCC, but I think that's all I've said.  So what in the world does that man do day after day?

His official title is International Human Resource Specialist and has been in that role for the last year.  His main responsibility is to provide human resource services to all international workers that are working with MCC where MCC Canada oversees the programs.  There are 66 countries that both MCC US and Canada work and serve in, so Canada covers about half.  That means that in over 30 countries, those international workers would rely on Carl for support.

There are 4 orientation sessions where international workers are sent out and Carl attends those week long meetings in Pennsylvania.  He connects with the workers and leads sessions on self-care and support resources while they are in the field.  He also leads sessions at the two re-entry retreats each year for returning workers.  There they are provided with re-acculturation resources such as counselling  resume workshops and health and transitional allowances as they find new jobs in North America.  About 6-8 times a year he is travelling in North America.

The day to day duties include answering A LOT of emails from workers who have questions about issues on the field, mental health and counseling, questions about health benefits, mid-term evaluations etc.  He spends a lot of time skyping with people all over the world.  That would explain why he hardly answers his personal emails and never has time to go on any social media networks.

Another aspect of his job is policy writing.  That's something that he really enjoys, but would bore me to tears.  Big thick policy  manuals need revision as the organization evolves and needs in the field shift.  So he meets with the policy review board on a regular basis to go over the changes.

He was a bit surprised at how well the job suits him.  Being from a pastoral background, he didn't necessarily see himself in a human resource position.  But it fits perfectly.  He is caring for people, just that they aren't in a church, but all over the world.  His love of details and experience working with board governance aids well in the policy writing aspect of his job.  Carl really does well and has gotten much affirmation and feedback in his position.  He had just been on the job for 6 months when he filled in as director of Human Resources as his boss moved to another position.  Carl had done such a thorough job that his supervisors were confident he could handle the challenge of adding another position until a new director was hired.  I was quite proud of him.

So there you have it and no more wondering what in the world that Carl character does all day!