People every where make a big deal about break through discoveries in medicine and technology. We also see on the news, stories about the world's politicians trying to solve war related problems. I wonder, how many times we as people and as parents and grand parents remember the people who have brought smiles to the faces of children all around the world. When it comes to kids' writers and people who have revolutionised kids' lives, I have almost given up on the television. Lives of rich and famous have taken precedence over the lives of simple but heart warming people. I will be surprised if Hollywood Stories would have time to narrate the lives of people who made our children laugh. One such person was Jim Henson. (Sept 24, 1936 to May 16, 1990) Hollywood Walk of Fame has honored both himself and Kermit the Frog (this privilege shared by only Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse and Mel Blanc and Woody Woodpecker and Bugs Bunny).
Kids who grew up watching Sesame Street are very responsible people holding important jobs and most of them are such good parents that they never cease to amaze me.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Out of the Darkness Walk
This is going to be very hard for me to write. As much as I worry about getting forgetful and am afraid of the "A" word, sometimes I simply want to forget what happened in my second year of BA summer vacation.
A little over forty one years ago (June of 1970) my classmates and I received the horrible news that one of my friends had commited suicide. We were all very young and full of hope for our future and dreams about being educated and having it all. Then one very quite morning I got a call from my best friend that our other best friend had killed herself. She was engaged to be married a year later, after her graduation. She liked and cared for the young guy she was engaged to. Then what happened? Needless to say we were all devastated but the cause of her suicide was even more shocking. Something no one could ever think of. She was tired of her parents fighting with each other.
To this day whenever I hear news about anyone commiting suicide, I break down. How could they do this to themselves. Was life really that hard for them? Do family members and loved ones miss the signs they would not if they knew better? What can we do as human beings to save another human being from taking their own life? Do they even realize that suicide is so final? I have always wished that there were people who can educate people to watch out for signs. I guess my wish has come true. In our area ie the Hudson Valley people are organizing "Out Of the Darkness Walk". I hope that there are areas where they are doing this as well.
Here is the link to my daughter's fundraising page. Please check it out especially if there are growing children in your family or even adults with special concerns. We always grieve for our loved ones, but suicide is not like any other way of dying.
A little over forty one years ago (June of 1970) my classmates and I received the horrible news that one of my friends had commited suicide. We were all very young and full of hope for our future and dreams about being educated and having it all. Then one very quite morning I got a call from my best friend that our other best friend had killed herself. She was engaged to be married a year later, after her graduation. She liked and cared for the young guy she was engaged to. Then what happened? Needless to say we were all devastated but the cause of her suicide was even more shocking. Something no one could ever think of. She was tired of her parents fighting with each other.
To this day whenever I hear news about anyone commiting suicide, I break down. How could they do this to themselves. Was life really that hard for them? Do family members and loved ones miss the signs they would not if they knew better? What can we do as human beings to save another human being from taking their own life? Do they even realize that suicide is so final? I have always wished that there were people who can educate people to watch out for signs. I guess my wish has come true. In our area ie the Hudson Valley people are organizing "Out Of the Darkness Walk". I hope that there are areas where they are doing this as well.
Here is the link to my daughter's fundraising page. Please check it out especially if there are growing children in your family or even adults with special concerns. We always grieve for our loved ones, but suicide is not like any other way of dying.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
THUMBS UP
Have you ever felt extremely angry in high school? I mean fumes coming out of ears angry ? A lot of us felt angry at some point or the other and a lot of us got over our anger and some of us did something wrong. I mean pressures of life itself start pressing our temples from Junior High onwards and and they keep giving us headaches going on to high school, well into college. So how exactly did the popular kids escape from things boiling inside them? To my shock I found out they really don't. A co worker of mine said that he was very popular in high school because his mother started him out as a very fashionable young man and he would wear nothing but designer clothes and as a result he got a great job in our company. At home, it was a different story. His mother got yelled at almost every month by his father for wasting money. When he interrupted, he was almost thrown out of their home by his father. Then there were kids who were so angry at jocks that they took steps to hurt all other kids along with jocks. They made the big news unfortunately. Also unfortunately, kids who do something good don't really make headlines too often.
Peekskill High School - just across Hudson River, made some rules that are not fair with students. Mike, our radio station host of Mike and Kacey said yesterday that a student wrote him a letter about an unfair rule their high school had made and some of the students are really angry about it and want to take their case to the board members. One of the students "J" ( we need to protect the kids ID) would like as many people as possible to know about the petition. He says that as angry as he is he rather take care of the problem through a petition. I called the radio station to check with Mike if it is OK for me to blog about this as more people might know about the petition. Also the reason I am writing this is the fact that as angry as the kids are they are going through the right means versus violence and vandalism.
Blogger friends from Peekskill School High School area can help out these kids by checking out the sitauation. Maybe the rule itself is not so bad after all and there could be misunderstanding on the kids part.
Peekskill High School - just across Hudson River, made some rules that are not fair with students. Mike, our radio station host of Mike and Kacey said yesterday that a student wrote him a letter about an unfair rule their high school had made and some of the students are really angry about it and want to take their case to the board members. One of the students "J" ( we need to protect the kids ID) would like as many people as possible to know about the petition. He says that as angry as he is he rather take care of the problem through a petition. I called the radio station to check with Mike if it is OK for me to blog about this as more people might know about the petition. Also the reason I am writing this is the fact that as angry as the kids are they are going through the right means versus violence and vandalism.
Blogger friends from Peekskill School High School area can help out these kids by checking out the sitauation. Maybe the rule itself is not so bad after all and there could be misunderstanding on the kids part.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Back To School
It was at the end of August last year that I had started writing my blog. My desire to write stemmed from my wish that my grandson who was entering Kinder Garden last year does good overall and has a good self image and a good level of self esteem. Hence "Project Sept". A lot of my friends thought that it was cute and some thought it was childish as the word "SEPT" was for Self Esteem Protection Team. This year my grandson goes to first grade and according to him, his two younger brothers will be looking up to him. Imagine being six and having your two year old brother and a two month old brother looking up to you.
A coworker of mine was complaining that men do not like her because she is heavy that in turn makes her go to comfort food which is not good for her. Then I suggested to her that she should not worry about men not liking her but try to eat right for her own sake. Later on at my last job, an other coworker who has low self esteem because of her weight asked me about the National Sport of India. I know that the state sport of Andhra Pradesh was "Kabadi". It was a different story that no one who was affluent would play that game. Rich people always played "Cricket". Then my coworker asked me if the PE department gave importance to Cricket alone. I was then very much surprised as our "PT" department in school had nothing to do with Cricket. They just gave us basic training in how to keep ourselves fit. She said that she wished they did that in American Schools. I then asked an other young girl about the corelation of self esteem with PE in schools.She said that PE has a lot to do with kids' self esteem.. She says that when she has children she will make it a point to tell the school that they better have physical education like the description and national sports can be an extra curricular item. This way all of the children will get equal attention in PE rather than only those who are good in National Sports.
I say we can start giving importance to general physical eductation right now. Those kids who are not fit can slowly become fit if not looked down upon.
A coworker of mine was complaining that men do not like her because she is heavy that in turn makes her go to comfort food which is not good for her. Then I suggested to her that she should not worry about men not liking her but try to eat right for her own sake. Later on at my last job, an other coworker who has low self esteem because of her weight asked me about the National Sport of India. I know that the state sport of Andhra Pradesh was "Kabadi". It was a different story that no one who was affluent would play that game. Rich people always played "Cricket". Then my coworker asked me if the PE department gave importance to Cricket alone. I was then very much surprised as our "PT" department in school had nothing to do with Cricket. They just gave us basic training in how to keep ourselves fit. She said that she wished they did that in American Schools. I then asked an other young girl about the corelation of self esteem with PE in schools.She said that PE has a lot to do with kids' self esteem.. She says that when she has children she will make it a point to tell the school that they better have physical education like the description and national sports can be an extra curricular item. This way all of the children will get equal attention in PE rather than only those who are good in National Sports.
I say we can start giving importance to general physical eductation right now. Those kids who are not fit can slowly become fit if not looked down upon.
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