NaBloPoMo – Page 15 – a hippie with a minivan

Smile…

There are times that one of the greatest tools of parenting is a simple smile.

a smile to show that you are there, that you are all ears … A smile that welcomes.

one that shows that you are paying attention…

that shows that you are there and that though a situation may be tense, you accept that their feelings are real.

that shows that you are ready to listen without judgment.

that shows that you respect them and are interested in what they are doing.

There are times that moods can be tense and anger is building and words can only make things escalate but that small smile diffuses the situation, lets tears come though and brings a child to your arms and makes their feelings finally come through…

It is such a small gesture that can say so much…

Shiv Chopra

I listen to a local (Montreal) talk radio station on almost a daily basis… when I am cleaning or doing things around the kitchen or cooking…

The H1N1 coverage and all the hype has been really getting to me though so when I heard one of the hosts introducing her next guest to talk about vaccines I rolled my eyes but decided to listen in anyway… what I heard surprised me. Not what was being said of course, but that he was saying it on the air, on a show who’s host is completely vaccine crazy usually…

After hearing the interview, I needed to know more about this guy and I really want to get my hands on his book on of these days.

Dr. Shiv Chopra is a former Health Canada scientist and “whistleblower”. He has a M. Sc and PhD in Microbiology and a degree in veterinary medicine and has been the recipient of many academic rewards including a fellowship of the WHO…

The interview started as normal but then he took over explaining H1N1 and how not dangerous it is and then went on to talk about vaccination in general… pretty much stating how it is a 50-60 year human experiment, how they have never been proven safe or effective, how they cause autoimmune diseases and just don’t work…

Here is the interview… it is really worth the listen!

(I have to say that I love how she sets up the interview and then is completely blindsided… live radio at its finest) I wish I had the second part also but they didn’t put it up… but it was him answering questions from the host and callers…

If you are interested in hearing more of what he has to say, look around his website, there is a lot of great info, I especially like the interview video from the Pimento Report which explains a lot of what he has done and what happened with his career…

Since hearing him, I have definitely been keeping an eye on what he has been saying.

Facebook…

In the last few months I have found a renewed interest for Facebook… Not as the reunion site that I was using it for when I started using it first became popular, but as a way to communicate and share with like-minded people.

Of course, I still use it to keep in contact with old friends, but I have also been decluttering my friends list of those that I may have once know but with whom I have nothing in common with anymore… and instead, I am friending new people that I might not know IRL, but with whom I have things in common with…

I have disabled all the apps and games that used to clutter my page and that I don’t use anyway, and I have found that it has been an amazing place to find and share articles and news, especially in certain circles. On my friends list there are now other UCers, midwives and doulas, unschoolers, homeschoolers and other likeminded moms…doing so also of course spreads the word not only to those like minded people, but others on our friends list, and it has sparked a few good conversations or even debates…

In the last few days here are a few articles that I have seen/shared…

There is so much information out there and I find that Facebook it is a great medium to share and spread the word…

Are you on Facebook? what do you use it for?

Menu for the week…

I needed a few items that are a bit more expensive so my total for this week is a bit higher at about 150$

We still don’t have an oven, but I will be trying the rotisserie feature on my new “toaster”oven… and though my brain wants to eat more veggies at the moment, my body is craving meat so I guess I need to listen to that for now…

So this week

Hunan Dumplings (didn’t make them last week)
General Tso
Rôtisserie Chicken
Stew in the crockpot
Hamburger steak (my mom used to make this and I vowed that I never would but I suddenly had a craving for it!)
Quick Spaghetti (another recipe from my childhood)

I will probably be getting the oven back on the 30th… so I went to ask my neighbour this morning if I could use her oven on Friday night or Sat morning to make Khéna’s cake for his upcoming birthday…

He is going to be 3!!!