Children | Mama Knows

The Best for Fathers Day

June 10, 2011 in Featured Articles by Hanna Trafford

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Fathers do deserve to have their special day – there is no doubt about it. How about recruiting the kids to lend a helping hand and make dad’s day a very special one? Start with getting the breakfast ready – and what dad would not like to start with watermelon popsicles? Or English Muffin pizzas? Yes – I am thinking about kids joining in the feast as well!

Just click on the picutre you want more information on and you will find everything you need to make your dad’s day a very special one:

Father’s Day Breakfast:

Watermelon Lime Popsicles

Baked Pancakes and Sausages

Egg in Toast

English Muffin Pizzas

Aple Cranberry Crumble

Tropical Fruit Salad

And once you have the special breakfast all planned, you can further engage the kids in making their own Father’s Day cards for dad:

Father's Day Cards Kids can Make

Hope you enjoy this information – please send in your comments, suggestions and exeriences, your input is always welcomed and very much appreciated

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Tags: Baking, Breakfast, Children, Cook, Cooking, Crafts, Desserts, Family, fathers day, Recipes
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by Hanna Trafford

Mother’s Day Chocolate Strawberry Shortcakes

May 3, 2011 in Recipes by Hanna Trafford

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Give a consideration to making something special for mom this Mother’s Day. And it could be these easy to make and very,very delicious Chocolate Strewberry Shortcakes. The recipe is easy to follow, so you can involve your children and watch their faces light up with pride as they serve mom something they made!

…

Chocolate Strawberry Shortcakes

3 cups of strawberries
3 tablespoons of granulated sugar
4 cups of vanilla ice cream
1/2 cup of chocolate sauce

Chocolate Biscuits:

2-1/4 cups of flour
1/2 cup of cocoa powder
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
2-1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon each baking soda and salt
1/2 cup of unsalted butter, cubed
1 cup of buttermilk
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Topping:

1 tablespoon of whipping cream
2 tablespoons of granulated sugar

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
With pastry blender, cut in butter until crumbly.
Whisk together buttermilk, egg and vanilla, add to the flour mixture, stirring with fork to make soft dough.
With lightly floured hands, press dough into ball.
On floured surface, knead gently about 10 times.
Pat into 1-inch thick round, cut out rounds, patting out scraps and making more rounds.
Place on parchment-lined baking sheet.
Brush biscuits with cream and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake in the centre of 400F oven for 15 – 20 minutes or until puffed and test toothpick comes out clean.
Cool on pan on racks.
Meanwhile, mix:
3 cups of strawberries with 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar, cover and let stand for minimum of 20 minutes, until juices form (when making ahead, let stand for 2 hours)
Split cooled biscuits horizontally in half, place bottom half on each serving plate or large platter, layer with berries, ice cream, chocolate sauce and biscuit top.

Have a wonderful Mother’s Day and send me your comments, suggestions and experiences – your input is very much welcomed and very much appreciated

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Tags: Baking, Cakes, Children, Cook, Cooking, Desserts, Family, Mother's day, Recipes
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by Hanna Trafford

Mother’s Day Wisdom

April 25, 2011 in Featured Articles by Hanna Trafford

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Mother’s Day is fast approaching and I thought I share some fun stuff with you. Ask yourself whether or not you have used even one of these statements – I know and I admit that I sure did. Looking back – it makes it even funnier as the years go by. Enjoy!

…

1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE .
“If you’re going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning.”

2. My mother taught me RELIGION.
“You better pray that will come out of the carpet.”

3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL.
“If you don’t straighten up, I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week!”

4. My mother taught me LOGIC.
” Because I said so, that’s why.”

5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC .
“If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you’re not going to the store with me.”

6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
“Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you’re in an accident.”

7. My mother taught me IRONY.
“Keep crying, and I’ll give you something to cry about..”

8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS .
“Shut your mouth and eat your supper.”

9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM.
“Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!”

10. My mother taught me about STAMINA ..
“You’ll sit there until all that spinach is gone.” “If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times. Don’t exaggerate!”

11. My mother taught me about WEATHER.
“This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it.”

12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.
“If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times. Don’t exaggerate!”

13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE.
“I brought you into this world, and I can take you out..”

14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION .
“Stop acting like your father!”

15. My mother taught me about ENVY.
“There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don’t have wonderful parents like you do.”

16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
“Just wait until we get home.” “You are going to get it when you get home!”

17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING .
“You are going to get it when you get home!”

18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.
“If you don’t stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way.”

19. My mother taught me ESP.
“Put your sweater on; don’t you think I know when you are cold?”

20. My mother taught me HUMOR.
“When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don’t come running to me.”

21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT .
“If you don’t eat your vegetables, you’ll never grow up.”

22. My mother taught me GENETICS.
“You’re just like your father.”

23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.
“Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?”

24. My mother taught me WISDOM.
“When you get to be my age, you’ll understand.”

25. My mother taught me about JUSTICE .
“One day you’ll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!”

And my favorite:

25. My mother taught me about JUSTICE .
“One day you’ll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!”

I do not have further words of wisdom to add here, but if you do, please send them in!

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Tags: Children, Family, Fun, mother, Mother's day, Parenting, Wisdom
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by Hanna Trafford

Fun Easter Games for Kids

April 21, 2011 in Featured Articles by Hanna Trafford

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It is definitely a good idea to have few games ready for your Easter gathering – especially if there are children present. You can easily have these games organized ahead of time – when I do it, I have little plastic baskets filled with materials for each game ready to go on a moment’s notice. If you decide to do that, you will find out that it is very easy to call the kids together and occupy them for quite a while. And don’t be surprised if adults get involved as well – after all – being competitive is just human nature, even if it involves cupcakes and Easter Eggs!

Easter Cupcake Walk

Materials:

Cupcake for each child
Numbers taped to the floor
Easter basket to hold number call cards
Music

How To Play:

When the music starts the children begin to walk around the room stepping on each of the numbers as they go. When the music stops the children should step on the number closest to them. A number is pulled from the Easter basket and the child standing on that number gets to choose a cupcake and return to their desk. That number is then removed from the floor and the bag. Continue until every child has a cupcake.

Egg Toss

Materials:

Large cardboard with Easter basket drawn on one side and a good size hole cut-out in center of basket, or a few small holes for older kids.
Colourful egg-shaped bean bags (Easter eggs)
Bucket to hold bean bags
Tape to mark distance line

How To Play:

Place cardboard basket a little distance from a wall with a paper box lid on floor to catch Easter egg bean bags. Mark your distance line according to age and skill of children. Line children up behind the line and place a bucket of Easter egg bean bags beside them. Give each child three tries to get their bean bag through the hole. Get all three Easter egg bean bags in and earn a ‘egg-licious’ reward.

Easter Egg Roll

Materials:

1 hard-boiled Easter egg for each team (maybe a few extras)
1 spoon for each team

How To Play:

Divide children into teams. The goal is for the first person to roll the egg with the spoon to the end of the course and back. The person hands the spoon to the next person in line and the relay continues until a team finishes.

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Tags: Children, Crafts, Easter, Easter Egg, Entertaining, Family, friends, Fun, Games, Household hints, Parenting
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by Hanna Trafford

How to Make Easter Egg Holders

April 18, 2011 in Featured Articles by Hanna Trafford

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If you don’t feel like getting too involved in decorating Easter Eggs, you can make it easy by just colouring all your eggs in solid colours and creating adorable egg holders.

The best way i could recommend to you is to involve your children and have them colour the egg holders with their crayons of markers – the kids will love making their own holders – guaranteed!

Directions:

Print out the template(s) you want to use
Colour as appropriate (water colour paints work nice – but have your children select their own method of colouring)
Cut the holders out. (There are three on each template)
You can make an egg decoration — wrap the strip of paper around the egg and attach with a small piece of tape (you may have to trim the ends of the paper depending on how big your egg is.Or:
You can make an egg holder — cut a toilet paper roll into a one inch ring. Glue the strip of paper around the roll and place the egg gently in the ring. It should stand nicely on the table

Here are your templates (please enlarge them to the size that will print desired size on your printer)

Template # 1:

Template #2:

Template #3:

Hope you have fun making these Easter Egg Holders – please send in your comments, suggestions and experiences, your input is always welcomed and very much appreciated!

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Tags: Children, Crafts, Easter, Family, Household hints, Parenting, Recipes
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by Hanna Trafford

Make Your Own Easter Eggs

April 5, 2011 in Household Hints by Hanna Trafford

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Making Easter eggs can be lot of fun – especially if you get your children involved. You can create a very festive centerpiece, use them to decorate various points of your home of create small baskets your children can give away to friends and family. Here are couple more easy to make egg decorating ideas for you:

Drip Dot Eggs

Materials:

Boiled eggs
Acrylic non-toxic craft paint, your choice of colors
Paintbrush
Empty egg carton
Dish of water

Directions:

Be sure that boiled eggs are cool and dry.
Place a double folded kitchen towel and place it on the table underneath child’s hands so if the egg slips out it will have a soft cushion to land on.
Place boiled eggs into an empty egg carton for stability.
Place some paint onto a paper plate or a small dish or palette. Add several drops of water to the paint to thin it out.
Using the paintbrush, place a generous dot of paint on top of your egg. If the paint is not thin enough to start dripping down the egg, add another generous dot. If it still doesn’t drip, dip your paintbrush in water and add to the dot on the egg until it begins dripping down the egg. Repeat this several times so that it drips down around the egg several times. Use two different colors to create your drips.
Allow the drips to dry completely. If your eggs begin to stick to the cardboard egg carton, carefully loosen them and scrape off any cardboard from the egg with your fingernail, then move them to a different area of the carton to continue drying.
When completely dry, carefully hold the egg upside down and paint the bottom half of the egg solid, this will cover up the end of the drips. Place the egg upside down to allow the solid area to dry. If needed, repeat with another coat and let dry again.
When dry, use the handle end of a paintbrush dipped in white paint to add polka dots to your solid color. Let dry.

Easter Egg Heads

Materials:

Boiled eggs
3-D paint or glitter glue, in a variety of colors
White craft glue
Wiggle eyes, in any size
Cooling rack or film canister lids
Marker
Mini bowl (optional)
Tweezers (optional)
Empty egg cartons

Directions:

You will need to decorate only one side of the egg at a time. Let the eggs dry either on egg cartons turned upside down, on a cooling rack or film canister lid. Decorate other side when first side is dry.

Place egg into an empty egg carton for stability.
Use glitter glue or 3-D paint to “draw” on hair. This will need to dry for several hours.
If you wish to add a bow, place a small construction paper or ribbon bow into the 3-D paint or glitter glue hair before it dries all the way.
Decide where you want to place the wiggle eyes and glue them in place.
Add a nose by gluing on a miniature pom pom
Draw on a mouth with a marker.
Place on a decorative plate, an Easter basket, or make an arrangement for your table.

Hope you have lots of fun creating your special Easter eggs – please send in your comments, suggestions and experiences, your input is always welcomed and very much appreciated

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Tags: Children, Crafts, Decorating, Easter, Easter Eggs, Family, friends, Household hints, Parenting
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by Hanna Trafford

Easy Easter Eggs

March 22, 2011 in Recipes by Hanna Trafford

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Bring out your creativity with these adorable Easter Egg Heads.They are easy to make – just think about the possibilities! And kids think the wiggle eyes are especially funny! Check out your local craft store or a dollar store to get the wiggly eyes and keep your eyes opened for things you can use for hair, hats, etc – get creative and you will love the results!

Materials:

Boiled eggs
3-D paint or glitter glue, in a variety of colors
White craft glue
Wiggle eyes, in any size
Cooling rack or film canister lids
Marker
Mini bowl (optional)
Tweezers (optional)
Empty egg cartons

Directions:

Place egg into an empty egg carton for stability.
Use glitter glue or 3-D paint to “draw” on hair. This will need to dry for several hours.
If you wish to add a bow, place a small construction paper or ribbon bow into the 3-D paint or glitter glue hair before it dries all the way.
Decide where you want to place the wiggle eyes and glue them in place.
Add a nose by gluing on a miniature pom pom
Draw on a mouth with a marker.
Place on a decorative plate, an Easter basket, or make an arrangement for your table.

Hope you enjoy making these adorable egg heads – please send in your comments, suggestions and experiences – your input is always welcomed and very much appreciated

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Tags: Children, Easter, Easter Eggs, Family, Household hints, Recipes
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by Hanna Trafford

Easter Fun and Games

March 21, 2011 in Recipes by Hanna Trafford

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Easter is a special time when families get together for a great meal and shared time.When the that get together includes children, it is a good idea to organize some fun and games - some activites that you can consider planning will add to that shared time and create special memories for all. Here are few for you to help you with your planning:

How Many Eggs?

Materials:

Large glass jar filled with chocolate eggs
Small pieces of paper
Easter basket
Pencil

How To Play:

Have children write their name on a small piece of paper and their guess as to how many chocolate eggs are in the jar. The child who guesses the right number or comes closest takes the jar of candy home to share with their family.

Beautiful Bunny

Materials:

A cut out bunny for each child
Scissors
Markers
Cotton balls (for tail)

How To Play:

Everyone makes their own version of the Easter Bunny. Hang them up for decoration and if you wish have a Beauty Contest. Recognize the most creative, prettiest, funniest, etc.

Broken Egg Riddles

Materials:

Large eggs cut in two
Riddle written on the first half of the egg
Answer written on the second half of the egg

How To Play:

Children go around and ask the riddle and the second child will give the answer. If the answers are correct, the two children who are matched up then sit down. Game is over when all children have matched up the riddle to the answer.

Hope you have fun planning and playing these games – please send in your comments, suggestions and experiences, your input is always welcomed and very much appreciated

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Tags: Children, Easter, Entertaining, Family, friends, Fun, Games, Parenting, Recipes
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by Hanna Trafford

Easy Valentines Day Crafts

February 8, 2011 in Gifts by Hanna Trafford

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valentines_day Every store I have been in lately has an absolute overload of red and white colours! Oh yes – Valentine’s day is coming soon! I tell you – I look at the prices of some of the items available and I think : Yes, that is very cute and pretty , but it is also quite likely that it will end up in the trash after the celebration.

I really believe in making things with your own hands, giving some thought to it, getting creative juices running and involving kids in the works . Here is a few I put together for you - easy to make and you can have fun doing it and mostly – have fun giving the special treats!

…

Special Red Roses

Nothing much says :I love You, then a single red rose! This one is easy to make and when you attach personalized tag to your rose, it can quickly become treasured keepsakes for members of you family!

What You Will Need::

Green chenille stems (per flower)
Red craft foam
Scissors
White craft glue or hot glue gun

Directions:

Set aside half the chenille stem for a later step. Take the full chenille stem and bend it in half. Starting at the bent end, twist the chenille stem around itself all the way up. When you reach the end trim it to make it even if needed.
Cut out 1″ tear drop shapes from the red foam, you will need 7 of these.
Cut out ¾” tear drop shapes from the red foam, you will need 3 of these.
Lay a 1″ tear drop on the table, point side down. Glue the open end of the twisted chenille stem to the red tear drop petal.
Glue a second tear drop behind the first tear drop (point side down), most of the tear drop in back will be visible. Repeat on the other side. Repeat again on each side, gluing them in a curved fashion (similar to a half circle). When you are done there should be one petal in the middle and 3 on each side.
Glue one of the smaller tear drop petals on top of the green chenille stem. Glue the other two smaller petals overlapping the first one, point side down.
Once these are all dry, bend and curve the foam petals to join both rounded sides together to form the flower. Glue in place and hold until dry, hot glue comes in handy here.
Use the ½ chenille stem to bend the leaves into shape and twist around the stem.

Friendship Box

350x262_friendship-box1_rdax_651

Sometimes it’s not the actual gift, but the message that it brings that is most cherished. This friendship box is great for showing how much your friends and family mean to you.

What You Will Need:

1 Empty box, any size
Valentine themed wrapping paper or pink/red construction paper
Pink construction paper
White paper for poem
White craft glue
White ribbon
Scissors

Directions:

Wrap the empty box in wrapping paper or construction paper.
Tie white ribbon around the box and tie into a bow on the top.
Print out the poem below.
Trim the poem and glue the trimmed poem to pink construction paper.
Trim the pink construction paper to give it an even border all the way around.
Glue the poem to the box.

Friendship Box Poem
Inside this fancy little box
I placed a gift so nice
You’ll probably always cherish it
Not even thinking twice

Now even though this box I give
Holds nothing you can touch
I’ve placed inside our friendship
It’s you I like so much!

Soft and Puffy Heart

350x262_puffy-heart1_rdax_651

Not only can you use this adorable craft to write a special message on the back, it can also be turned into a very special dinner table decoration!

What You Will Need:

Pink and white tissue paper, cut into 1″ squares
White craft glue
Scissors
Piece of card stock or construction paper
Pencil with an eraser

Directions:

Cut out a heart shape from the construction paper or card stock.
Put white craft glue into the center of the heart, shaped like a heart.
Using the eraser end of a pencil, place the eraser into the center of a white tissue paper square. Twist the tissue paper square around the eraser and dot it onto the glue. Continue this process until entire middle of the heart is covered with white tissue paper. See photo.
Repeat the process from step #3 with pink tissue paper for the border of the heart.
Glue a hanger to the back if you like.

Tips:

For younger kids who have trouble working the pencil steps, allow them to wad up the tissue paper squares and press them directly onto the glue with their fingers.
Instead of a hanger, try gluing a magnet strip to the back and hang on your fridge!
Always saved the tissue paper from birthday gifts for craft projects like these.

Lollipop Love

lollipop-card1

This adorable piece will not take you very long to make – engage your children to help and use to send people or use as decorations for your home or your table!

What You Will Need:

Pink coloured glitter glue
White cardstock
1 wooden skewer
Coloured strips of ribbon (2) 1/4″ and (1) 1/8″ wide
Large plastic clear crystals
Pencil
Glue gun
Heart-shaped polystyrene/craft foam
White glue
Scissors

Directions:

Card Template

Fold white cardstock in half.
Trace polystyrene heart onto cardstock.
Cut out heart leaving a fold line at top of card. Make sure the card heart shape is small enough to fit nicely on the front of the polystyrene heart.

Step 2: Making the Heart

Glue heart card to front of heart-shaped polystyrene using white glue.
Cover the front and sides of heart shaped styrofoam with pink glitter glue.
Dip styrofoam heart in a bowl of plastic clear crystals. Let it dry.
Cover back of card with pink glitter glue.
Dip again in clear plastic crystals. Let it dry.

Step 3: Lollipop Stick

Twist and glue one piece of 1/4″x10″ coloured ribbon around stick.
Twist and glue a second piece of 1/8″x10″ coloured ribbon around stick.
Trim off excess ribbon.
Pierce tip of skewer into bottom end of polystyrene heart.
Glue a piece of 1/4″x 7″ribbon end to inside front bottom card.
Glue a piece 1/8″ x 7″ ribbon end to the back inside bottom card.
Tie both ribbons together.
Cut a piece of 1/4″x 15″ ribbon.
Tie a bow around the base of heart.

Key to Your Heart

key-to-my-heart-card

One of my personal favourites and again – your creativity will make it special!

What You Will Need:

Design cardstock
1/4″ x 20″ cream-colored ribbon
Antique key
Medium-sized pearl
6 small rhinestones
Gold thread
Glue gun
Hole puncher
Velvet fabric
Fabric filler
Cardboard
Watered down glue
Small paint brush

Directions:

Step 1: Card Template

Cut out two 5″ x 7″ rectangles with design cardstock.
Cut out a 2 ½” heart from cardboard.
Cut out 3 ½” heart from fabric.

Step 2: Heart pillow

Wrap heart-shaped fabric around cardboard heart.
Glue fabric to back of cardboard heart with glue gun.
Leave 1 ½” on one side of heart unglued.
Stuff heart with small amount of fabric filler.
Glue open seam on back of heart closed.
Tie a small bow with 1/4″ ribbon.
Glue bow to top of heart with glue gun.
Glue medium sized pearl below the center of the bow with glue gun.

Step 3: Key

Tie gold thread to the key. Cut thread.
Glue the free end of the gold thread on the backside of the padded heart.

Step 4: Card

Place the 5″ x 7″ rectangles of cardstock together to make the card. Make sure the design side is visable on both sides.
Punch (7) even-spaced holes along left edge of card with hole puncher.
Lace 1/4″ ribbon through each hole from top to bottom and back to top
Glue ribbon ends on inside of card at top.
Glue padded heart on front center at 1 ½” from top of card with glue gun.
Glue rhinestones to the front of card with watered down glue

Enjoy making these pretty keepsakes ad please send in your comments, suggestions and ideas. Your input is always welcomed and very much appreciated!

scan0003

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Tags: Children, Crafts, Family, Gifts, Hugs, Kisses, love, Recipes, Valentines Day, Valentines Day cards
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by Hanna Trafford

Life with Cerebral Palsy

January 18, 2011 in Featured Articles by Hanna Trafford

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I could title this post:

“And now for Something Completely Different”

- meaning – different from recipes. advice on planning weddings, etc. But in a way – this post is all about life and all about what to do and how to do it. And therefore the topic of living with cerebral palsy totally fits in.

Let me tell you why I decided to write this. Few months ago, a good friend of mine messaged me asking if I could spare a bit of time to talk to a young lady about internet blogging, social networking, etc. – possibly answering some questions for her. I am absolutely not an expert but I am willing to help out where I can so I agreed for this young lady to contact me. To make a long story short – her name is Laura Forde and she has a blog site where she writes about her experiences and where she offers help to others. You have to love the name of her blog:

Life of the Differently Abled

…

Here is what I found out about Laura – her attitude and enjoyment of life is incredible and contaigous to say the least.To help you better understand what this girl is all about, who better to introduce her properly than her mom?

The person behind lifeofthedifferentlyabled.com

Posted on December 2, 2010 by mymom

The people who have been advising lifeofthedifferentlyabled about her blog have told her that she needs to give a face and a name to her blog so I am going to introduce you to her

Her name is Laura Forde and she is twenty four years old. She was born very prematurely (almost twenty three weeks gestation and weighing 1lbs 3oz or 530g) and has spent her entire life in a wheelchair. She has spent a somewhat isolated childhood because people do not know how to interact with difference. She has grown into a spunky and determined adult. She graduated highschool as an Ontario Scholar (something we never dreamed would happen) and then she went to Conestoga College here in Ontario where she got her diploma in Office Administration Executive. As Laura advanced in her school years she became more independent in her ability to do the school work. In her high school years (while still involved with Easter Seals) Laura was nominated for a Woman of the Year award which she won in the youth category. Laura is an outgoing and social young woman. She is kind and has a great sense of humour. Now you have met her.

I asked Laura to write something just for this website – something she would like people to know about. She did and I ahve to say – she picked a very interesting subject.

Here is Laura’s story:

I didn’t eat at school

In elementary school, I didn’t often eat. It was too socially overwhelming to eat at school . My mom and I got into a groove, a routine. The routine went something like this: mom would make my lunch filling it with things I liked only to have me return it fully intact only to have it repeat the next day and the days to follow that week. It got to the point that mom would simply repack the same lunch for an entire week. I would bring the contents home untouched and she would repack it knowing I wouldn’t touch it anyway. The social stigma of being different seriously reared its ugly little head for me in the lunch room. I’d grown up knowing I was different, and it was obvious the most to me when in the lunch room.

I don’t know why this is nor can I give examples of how it showed itself, but again they knew I was different and it is just simply too exhausting to attempt to eat in the school setting. Although we lived around the corner from the school my parents both worked full-time outside the home so there was no one available to accommodate this option for me.

Cerebral Palsy made me a messy eater as a kid. I was already feeling like a social outcast because of my chair. I was the only kid in mainstream classes and I talk about that experience in the following post. So being a messy eater only magnified my feelings of social isolation and therefore I denied myself lunch at school. And going home for lunch was out of the question.

Rest assured, as I got older this became less of an issue. With each school I attended, I was met by more and more students who themselves had physical disabilities and therefore was able to relax into who I was. And with such relaxation began my ability to eat at school again.

I have spoken to Laura number of times – we connected on Skype so chat or video calls are easy. She is looking for a job, works on contract schedules now and has thousands of ideas about what she would like to do. Her zest for life, accomplishments and her desire to help others is something I greatly admire.

I hope you will take the time to visit Laura’s blog and read what she has to say – here is the link again:

Life of the Differently Abled

…

And for your enjoyment – I decided to also add Laura’s message for the holidays:

…

Happy First Year of the Life of the Differently Abled

…

Thank you all for reading this, for visiting Laura’s blog site and most importantly – thank you Laura for being such a special person!

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Tags: abled, Blog, Blogging, Cerebral Plasy, Children, disabled, Family, friends, Health, Parenting
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