Grandma4ever said:
From my experence both working with folks who have disabilities and raising my own kids, I would suggest to have open communication with the kids, acknowledging their fears. Then I would help them to problem solve to allow them to see that there are many options to resolve problems and that given time most everything turns out for the best. As they begin to gain skills in solving their own problems given them rewards for seeing the bright side but don't put them down if they get caught up in the negative. We all go there from time to time. I also remember hearing on some TV program that we must give praise only when it is earned. Telling them that they are beautiful when they have gone without brushing their hair or teeth is not valid and they know it. So keep the praise coming but keep it real. (I must say that I am not a therapist nor have I been trained in children's behavior but this is my life experence. 13 years of working with person's with disabilities.) Hope this is helpful. Any other ideas out there? Lois
I'm a semi-stay at home Dad who's been self employed for about 15+ years (18? - I've lost count)... and I spend a bit more time dropping off the kids. Just a couple weeks ago our 2nd one started P-school 4 days a week and for the 1st time in about 4 years I've recovered significant time during the day where I can be professionally productive.
Having said so much - I end up as the one to take the kids to many things and am by default the primary observer and care provider. Having seen this mildly sad conduct in the other child I should have said a little more. I've seen many kids exhibit less then desirable behavior before - and in some cases the teachers counsel that they're managing it or they might privately suggest there are private issues outside of school that may be influencing this - and they are trying to manage it. Only later might I find a set of parents are splitting up or a chronic terminal health issue is threatening. And - sometimes it's something else that my rumor-mill does not uncover or speculate.
So - it really could be anything. In fact - maybe MY FAMILY is the odd one to not engage in hostile lashing verbal conduct - and other parents might be asking the teachers why our kids are not casting verbal barbs and engaging but pointed rudeness. OK... maybe that's unlikely to be the case ... currently. As I also freely admit to having been less than "perfect"... but I also admit to trying to be a better person all the time.
At any rate, I appreciate your insightful remarks
Grandma4ever. I like what you had to share. BUT my specific concerns - now someone tell me I am on the WRONG track in my thinking - is....
.... I saw my daughter half way between noting the odd behavior and being aware/annoyed/and ignoring it... and apparently hthe other half of the time she was apparently ignoring it totally. I was NOT SURE what she really thought of it - and I was not sure if there was anything I could do to guide her thoughts in recognizing it, in determining her obvious options, and otherwise dealing with it. I was actually thinking there will come a day when some kids might kick it up a notch and target her or close friends of hers - and we want her to be a little better prepared. By the same token we do not want to encourage her copying this conduct and we want to gently discourage it. Life is gonna be full of EVERYTHING life has coming at us... which is generally EVERYTHING there is - given the person in question gets around enough. I know I can't prepare her for everything fully - but I wanna try a bit.
Just last month we had an alert letter sent home from school that a 9 year old girl near OUR HOME was approached by a young man and offerred $10 to get in the car with him. She said "NO" and quickly walked away. He pursued and then said he was a police officer and she HAD to get in the car with him. She then RAN away. Good girl. Now... I live in an area that has from time to time been ranked by the FBI as one of the "safest" communities of 50,000 person size in the USA. We switch off in leading the nation with Simi Valley (a neighboring community) and one other city. And I was quite surprised to hear of this - shocked in fact. SO I had a conversation with my daughter about this and we outlined how she should protect herself. It is a sad reality that these sort of threats exist.
Grandma4ever said:
I want to welcome all the newcomer. This is going to be an awesome cruise. It sounds like there will be a lot to do or not to do depending on your energy level and interest.
As there are a number of us celebrating anniveraries I really think it would be neat to get together one early afternoon on a day at sea to celebrate. I would not mind setting that up but do not have a clue how to make the arrangements. Can they be made with the ship before we board? What about getting space on the ship or arranging for food? I could work up awards to give to those whose are celebrating. Not wanting to leave anyone out, we could celebrate birthdays, as well, as anything else a person or family might want. Like getting a new pet, job, graduation etc, etc, etc. I invision this as a short meet and very much a family one. Any ideas or suggestions? Lois
And may I say - what a nice idea. This would be a little different. On the last sailing we had someone make door signs for apparently everyone in the DIS group and sneak around and put them up!
I would be happy to do that if we don't gather for something -
or well - I could do that anyway in conjunction with anything we do as a gathering. 
And a quick note before I run... I don't suppose anyone is gonna be visiting in WDW or Orlando this weekend? We're flying back into Orlando from Friday to Monday evening to hang out. We had originally booked for the Oct 28th 7 nite Magic voyage - but got the post card offer/reminder on the 11 nite southern and we switched. Besides - we developed a last minute "issue" with business which encouraged us to also make the switch. So we had this airfare which was gonna trigger huge losses if we changed everything about it... so we minimized our penalties by shortening the trip on the return date - and everything snapped into balance for us. But we now have a sort of quick little weekend in Oelando as a result. We are hooking up with a few of our old DIS pals pre cruise though - and beyond that we were gonna do WDW and Universal. Plus my daughter was asking about the Space Center - but I'm not so sure we'll get to that... as doing the Space Center would be better pre or post cruise since we'd be driving by anyway? Ok... enuf already.... eh?
Oh well.... I gotta get some work done....
Good afternoon to everyone and...
Cheers!
It will be me, DH and DS8 (will be 9 on cruise). This time my family will be trying to join us, but definitely my mom, and hopefully my 2 sisters and their DHs.
It is now the plan to do an annuak September cruise. We are not booked yet, and most likely will not book until July, but I just wanted to come by here and say hi and meet some of my fellow cruisers.
I added you both to our cruise member website (we now have a PAGE #2)
You both have such nice smiles.
