Small Things Count

If you’ve read my posts awhile you know that my love for phrase-origins sometimes surfaces. Today I offer “bite the bullet,” meaning to do or accept something you strongly disagree with. You’ve seen this in Westerns or war movies. A doctor tells a patient that what they’re about to do will hurt a lot, but they’ve run out of pain killers or anesthesia. They then give the patient a bullet and told to bite down hard to relieve some of the pain. It was just a distraction, but sometimes it actually worked, sort of.

Here are 10 things your mother never told you. But, speaking as a mother, it was all worth it!

Happy Mother’s Day!

When people judge me and try to tell me what I’m doing wrong, I’d like to refer them to today’s Thursday Thought quote.

Because we never know for sure who’s a sexual predator, it’s important that we know the signs of when one is “grooming” a child. Parents, grandparents, guardians, teachers, parishioners, neighbors–any of us adults who have children we care for and want to look out for…we all need to know the signs so we can keep our children safe.

Here’s a list of the basic steps a predator takes in the grooming process.  For an explanation of each, read the single-page fact sheet Behaviors of Sexual Predators: Grooming.

• Targeting the victim.
• Gaining the child’s trust.
• Filling a need.
• Isolating the child.
• Sexualizing the interaction.
• Maintaining control.

Six steps. That’s all it takes to ensnare a child.

One step–our intervention–is all it takes to save a child.

While I was in the grips of polio at age 3 and for the rest of my life as I experience weakness and other symptoms resulting from polio, I’ve depended on doctors for medical decisions but even more on nurses. They encouraged me, gave me hope, held my hand during pain and this child’s fear of surgery. Today, on National Nurses Day, I want to say THANK YOU!

Liquid and sheet fabric softeners are “the most toxic product produced for daily household use” (Allergy and Environmental Health Assn.).  Most contain toxins that can harm the brain and nervous system. Instead, dissolve 1/2 cup of baking soda in the wash water before adding your clothes.

[For more easy, money-saving, Eco-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7000, choose a format, and download to your computer or e-book device. For a description of the book go to My Free Books).

I’m not saying that the Trump Hush Money trial, in its 12th day, seems to be going unduly slowly. Or that lawyers are purposely dragging it out. But its TV coverage title says it’s episode [#} OF SEASON 1! Scary.

Life should be enjoyed. Too often we want to do something but worry about what others will think. For those times, today’s Thursday Thought quote has the answer.

Today is May Day. When I was a child, it wasso much fun!  Our school put up a May Pole, and kids held onto long colorful streamers and wound their way around it.  We didn’t have a May Queen, like in England, although my friends in Catholic School celebrated the Virgin Mary as Queen.  We sang songs and did dances and enjoyed this traditional spring festival.  We weren’t aware that May Day (called “Labour Day” by some back then) had been co-opteded by Communists and Socialists into an International Workers’ Day in the late 1800s.  And we were many years away from today, when the labor movement has claimed the day as its own, celebrating it yearly to point out injustices people face in the workplace.  When I was a child, I was blissfully unaware of prejudices and inequalities.  When I was a child, I was powerless to do anything about it.

Today, I am an adult.