Welcome to Holland

I love this poem...it applies to aging parents, children, transition...and it is posted in honor of World Autism Awareness Week-April 1-7. Welcome back from break, my ISKL friends.

WELCOME TO HOLLAND

by
Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

Airports

I find that airports are confusing places. Such a mixture of emotion.
It used to be that loved ones were able to be together right up until the time of departure. Now, we drop our loved ones off at the curb and bid good-bye as we wrestle bags and avoid police and traffic.
Also, upon arrival, as we left our journey behind, our loved ones were waiting for us as we stepped off the plane, sometimes they even had signs welcoming us. Now, we are left to navigate the arrival to an unknown place on our own, and sometimes we even need to arrange a taxi or some mode of transportation to take us to the home of our loved ones.
Personally, I miss this. I wish I could wait at the gate, with my loved ones, until they departed (especially when a flight is delayed. I wish I could greet them at the gate when they arrive.
Happy Spring Break, and Safe Travels, my ISKL friends!

The Children's Peace Prize

Many people believe the only folks who are able to make changes are those that are adults, celebrities, rich, or maybe those that have given their lives for their cause have earned the term "famous".

There is a quote, its source disputed, that states, We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. 

I believe our children are our greatest resource as change makers.
Take a look at The Children's Peace Prize website.
Possibly you even know of someone to nominate!

March Book Madness

If you haven't already, be sure to vote for your favorite book on March Book Madness.
The voting started on March 6th!!





                 Middle Grades Novel Bracket

No Hitting!

I did it.  I had not really planned on it but it happened.  It was like slow motion.  The snowman decorated christmas tin that I had taken from the garage and used to scoop up the vole flew through the room and landed right on her bed! The cookie tin opened and there it was the dead vole on right on her bed.  Nothing separating the vole from where she slept every night. My sister had taken my shoe and hidden it and refused to give it back.  “She deserved it”, I thought to myself.  But did she really?  And I knew she had a temper. As soon as it happened I regretted it.  I ran over, scooped the tiny dead vole off her bed and ran out of the room.  She slammed the door after me.  This wasn’t the last I would hear about it. Minutes later as I was talking to my mom, Allison ran out of her room red faced and furious.  The next thing I knew she had pounded me with her closed fist right on the top of my head as hard as she could.  What?!  I had expected her to retaliate but not like that.  My mom had seen everything and Allison was grounded.  There was no hitting allowed.

Punctuation....please!

Ok, I am not perfect.
I over use ellipsis (...).
I did not know an interrobang existed  (‽ or ?!?!?!). I thought I had invented it and had not bothered to give it a name.

But what drives me CRAZY is the misuse of the apostrophe on public signs to show possession of plural nouns.

I walked into a posh office and the sign read "Board Member's Room". I asked, "Does this room only belong to ONE board member?"

The answer clearly was that the room belonged to ALL board members.

"Well," I replied, "the apostrophe is in the wrong place. It is supposed to be AFTER the 's'."

The sign has not been fixed...I have not been invited back.

Mens' wear should be Men's wear.

Womens' locker room should be Women's locker room.

Childrens' education should be Children's education.

(Ask the English Teacher)

Possessive nouns are SO much easier to teach in Spanish.

Again, I am not perfect.

Jokes

I am not particularly good at telling jokes.
I am not particularly good at solving riddles.

Somehow these jokes always make me laugh.

What is the best time to go to the dentist?
2:30
(Tooth Hurty)
So when someone tells me to do something at 2:30, I always respond, "The best time to go to the dentist!"

This one I have just cut and pasted from www.ecenglish.com Joke of the Day

Three handsome male dogs are walking down the street when they see a beautiful, enticing, female Poodle.

The three male dogs fall all over themselves in an effort to be the one to reach her first, but end up arriving in front of her at the same time.

The males are speechless before her beauty, slobbering on themselves and hoping for just a glance from her in return.

Aware of her charms and her obvious effect on the three suitors, she decides to be kind and tells them, “The first one who can use the words ‘liver’ and ‘cheese’ together in an imaginative, intelligent sentence can go out with me.”

The sturdy, muscular black Lab speaks up quickly and says, “I love liver and cheese.”

“Oh, how childish,” said the Poodle. “That shows no imagination or intelligence whatsoever.”

She turns to the tall, shiny Golden Retriever and says “How well can you do?”

“Um. I HATE liver and cheese,” blurts the Golden Retriever.

“My, my,” said the Poodle. “I guess it’s hopeless. That’s just as dumb as the Lab’s sentence.”

She then turns to the last of the three dogs and says, “How about you, little guy?”

The last of the three, tiny in stature but big in fame and finesse, is the Taco Bell Chihuahua.

He gives her a smile, a sly wink, turns to the Golden Retriever and the Lab and says….

Liver alone. Cheese mine. (Leave her alone, she's mine.)