The Best Reason I Know of that You Might Want to Support the Reel Abilities Film Festival

The coolest

I stumbled onto the 2015 Reel Abilities Film Festival, Cincinnati venue, because of a fundraising event for the DSAGC (Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati). The Cincinnati Reds generously provided the venue for a screening of Where Hope Grows. Even though the fundraiser was in the evening AND downtown, and Greg was out of town, I bought tickets and went to the event, along with about 400 other people.

The most startled

In my review of the film, I want to first say, MAD PROPS to the people who make any film. It's a huge undertaking, and I know this one was no exception.

The proudest

The synopsis of the film: "A baseball star forced into early retirement struggles to adjust to the curve ball life has thrown him. He finds new life through an unexpected friendship with Produce, a local grocery store clerk who has Down syndrome."

First important fact. Bad old Johnny (William Zabka), from The Karate Kid (1984), is in this film. He hasn't learned much, it appears, now drinking his sorrows away and making more bad choices.

Second important fact, David DeSanctis, in his first feature film, does a wonderful job in his role as Produce.

Third important fact, the story contained a number of tropes or cliches. But I acknowledge it must be a challenge to make a film without any.

Fourth important fact, I was not tricked at the part where the plot twist threw us for a curve. But the teenage girl with Down syndrome who was sitting two rows in front of me was devastated and her distress made me cry. She was the reason I want to be positive overall about this film.

The cutest

As a middle-class, privileged, white person, I have little understanding of what it's like to be in a minority group who never sees someone like themselves in the media. I loved it that all the young people with Down syndrome in the room saw someone just like them who was living out one of his dreams. David was actually at the premiere and answered questions afterward.

There are upcoming Reel Abilities Film Festivals in cities across the US, including New York and Atlanta. Do consider supporting the RAFF if it comes to your town. What a celebration of hope this film festival is! So many people in the world who are doing the most amazing things, even when they are blind, or deaf, or have some other type of disability. Your support means so much to those with disabilities and their families.

The ham and cheesiest

Also, whatever else these corporations may do, I deeply appreciate their corporate sponsorship of the RAFF. Major sponsors included Macy's, Saul Schottenstein Foundation, Hatton Foundation, Barking Fish, The Cincinnati Enquirer, the city of Cincinnati, and many more.

Here is a list of films shown at the festival. Keep an eye out for them in the future.

Little World

The Crash Reel

Fixed: The Science/Fiction of Human Enhancement

Touch of the Light

Here One Day

Stand Clear of the Closing Doors

Habana Muda

Come as You Are

Travis: A Soldier’s Story

It’s All About Friends

Where Hope Grows

The Commute

Bipolarized

Here One Day

Sampler’s Ascent

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Another Snow Day!

I half expected another snow day today, as the skies poured rain yesterday, which eventually turned to snow. As the temperature dropped, it became evident that we would be dealing with both ice and snow today. Sure enough, no school.

I was with some parents recently and one of them gritted her teeth multiple times as she described the power struggles she was in with her daughter (Down syndrome). I felt for her, as I have been there, done that, more than I would have liked. Truthfully, though, I have learned that power struggles pretty much are a losing proposition. Kids just don't respond positively to parents getting more and more intense, more and more DETERMINED to make the child do this thing, damn it.

So, I've had the opportunity to learn some different ways to approach Kepler when it comes to getting him to do something that needs to be done. I realized yesterday that my efforts are paying off. I wondered if they ever would, but he is getting more compliant.

As he has gotten more compliant and I have gotten more relaxed, I have been able to really celebrate his sweet personality, his sense of humor, and his love of doing things together. He patiently waited this morning while I jumped on the rebounder, then joyfully joined in while I washed a few windows. I have much desk work to do today, but he wanted to play a game with me on his iPad, so I said yes. (Important vs Urgent).

He chose Toca Boca Kitchen. You can watch the trailer here. His character decided to cut up a pineapple and eat the entire thing. All of the Toca Boca apps are really cute, and he loves them. While I watched, a light bulb appeared above my head! I have a pineapple in my refrigerator that needs to be cut up.

So, carpe-ing the diem, I invited Kepler to help me cut

up my real pineapple. I'm not even sure if he has even touched a real pineapple before, so we explored it first.
I remembered that the outside of the pineapple represents the fibonacci number sequence, but I just kept that little tidbit to myself.

I am continually amazed at what happens when I get in there and do something new. He used a sharp knife (Cutco, the best!) to cut off the outside of the pineapple. And this little man who eats only the fewest of foods licked his finger of the pineapple juice. He didn't decide to go ahead and take a bite of the fruit, but any food that gets into his mouth that hasn't been there before is a huge win in my book.

I would have loved to video the process, but only had enough hands to help guide his hand, and hold the pineapple. His enthusiasm and joy is just so heart-warming, though.

After we did all the cutting, we ended up with this:

Now, I'm sure none of the rest of y'all have ever bought a pineapple and not gotten around to cutting it up until it was too late, but, alas, I have. So, it was extra sweet today to get this job done, and all the pineapple bagged up and put into the freezer for future smoothie use. 

All of this because I said yes to playing a game with him on his iPad, even though my desk work was tapping its foot and yelling mean things at me. 

What important thing can you say yes to today?

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Blogging from A to Z Challenge 2015

A couple years ago, I participated in my very first blog challenge: Blogging from A to Z. Held every April, the challenge is quite a lot of fun. I met some wonderful people throughout the world during my first experience and I am still in contact with some of them, either via blog or in some cases, Facebook.

The idea is that each blogger blogs 26 days in April, taking off Sundays, and connects each day to a letter of the alphabet. April 1 is for A, April 2 is for B, etc. You can choose a theme, or just blog in a random manner, as long as your subject coordinates to the letter for that day.

I've signed up again this year. I'm already blogging on a daily basis currently, and I look forward to the encouragement and fun that this next blog challenge will bring.

I have also signed up to be one of the minions who each visit a small group of blogs every day to make sure that everyone's blog gets traffic during the challenge. I'm part of the Holton's Heroes group of blog assistants.

This year's schedule is as follows:

If you already have a blog, I would like to cordially invite you to join into this blog challenge. If you have been thinking about blogging, now is a great time to jump in!

You can find out how to register, and much more, right here!

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How to Delegate Your Parenting to a Disney Character

Delegate: entrust (a task or responsibility) to another "person," typically one who is less senior than oneself.

I'm a big fan of animated films, and have been known to be moved to tears in more than one that I've seen. I love the clever dialogue, and the colorful visuals. It must be a lot of fun to work on such a project. One of my favorites in recent years is Big Hero 6.

Big Hero 6 was the first movie we took Kepler to see at the theater and he loved it. I loved the movie, but loved even more watching his whole-body response to the movie. He laughed, he cheered, he stood up and danced. We went to see it a second time!

Baymax has got to be one of my favorite characters ever. He is a "nurse bot," and has the capacity to diagnose and treat humans. His halting, gentle voice is always soothing. And he is bound and determined to heal whatever it is that is bothering his human patients.

For Kepler's birthday, we bought him a 19" plush Baymax. Baymax's arms swivel, so he can be very demonstrative, with the right puppeteer in charge.

After the puberty workshop I attended last week, I was newly inspired to do everything I can to help Kepler be as independent as possible.

Getting on the bus in the morning has been challenging in the past. He hasn't wanted to put on his socks, refused his shoes, couldn't find his mittens, and so on. More than once I had a bucking bronco on my hands. We have made a lot of progress in being more organized and utilizing the most excellent Time Timer to have a smoother morning, but I had been resigned to putting on his shoes and socks, pretty much forever, myself, until last Tuesday morning when I had Baymax tell Kepler it was time to put on his socks.

"Kepler... Please put on ... your socks." I placed Baymax in front of my face and he spoke to Kepler,  and Kepler listened. Kepler put on his own socks.

Eureka! I realized I had a solid gold parenting tip right here. Since then, Kepler has listened to Baymax many times and he has obeyed. Not only that, but he LOVES it when Baymax hands him his socks, gives him a fist bump, waves to him from the dining room window as he leaves on the bus, tells him to hang up his coat, and reminds him to wash his hands.

I believe that Mary Poppins was right when she sang about a spoonful of sugar helping the medicine go down. Baymax is the sweetest spoonful of sugar, and turns all the medicine into empowering fun. Baymax for the win!

Which Disney character might your sweet little one respond happily to?

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A Problem; A Potential Solution -- FAT TUESDAY series, Part 2

Last Tuesday, I posted about my past and present relationship with food. Today is part 2 of the FAT TUESDAY series, which is focusing on my present and future relationship with food.

There have been baby steps this week, as well as some examples of grace, generosity, and gratitude.

One of my biggest realizations came this morning as I flew from activity to activity. This is what I do with food.

I don't schedule my eating, or really do much planning. LaRosa's has made thousands of dollars from me because of my lack of meal planning. I eat when it's handy. I eat when I think of it. I eat when something sounds good. And I eat when I'm hungry. And then I get to a point where I think if I eat another thing, I'm going to explode in front-loop-colored pieces of anguish. That's when I draw a line in the sand, go on a diet, lose some weight, absolutely commit to regular exercise.

That's what I do with my schedule, too. I see so many things that look good. Volunteering, clubs, social events, meetings, lunches. And I say yes and I say yes and I say yes and I say yes. Eventually, my schedule, like my body, gets absolutely stuffed with activities and that's when I get to a point where I think if I schedule another thing, I'm going to explode in pencil-mark-covered DayTimer page pieces. That's when I tend to withdraw from multiple activities and go back to something manageable that includes rest and space.

All the activity yesterday and today has been necessary, or important, or fun, or timely. So, it's not like I'm at a casino spending 20 hours on a slot machine, or binge-watching True Detective.

Without a plan, both my schedule and my eating repeatedly get completely out of control.

Too many shiny distractions keep me overstuffed and overcommitted. Time to get friendly with a plan.

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Thoughts from Drug Court

I left my house this morning at 8:10 to visit Drug Court with a defendant I know.

Things I noticed:

Young men who wear their pants below their buns actually go through the motions of pulling them up, but only to just-below-bun level. 

These same young men can rely on their pants to stay up just by virtue of the pant legs touching the floor. They can't fall down anymore than they already have.

The court system is incredibly dehumanizing. Even with a caring, competent judge, the accused is at the mercy of the court and must simply wait as long as it takes. In our case, we waited over 2 1/2 hours for 3 minutes in front of the judge. But that's the way it works.

It is my preference never to be handcuffed as that looks like some kind of uncomfortable situation right there.

I have added court-appointed attorney to my list of jobs I am grateful I do not have. I think they provide a necessary service and are hugely important to the legal lives of millions of prisoners, but what is it like to work with person after person without really being able to touch them. I'll grant you I've never been an attorney or a defendant, but from the outside, that looks like a tough gig.

My heart went out to the old man next to me whose CAA told him in front of everyone that he does not qualify for Drug Court because of his "extensive felony record." When the attorney walked away, the man said in frustration, "I haven't been in trouble in twenty years." I responded sympathetically. Before he walked away, he sadly said. "This stuff just never goes away."

Don't I just wish that every young person in that courtroom could understand what an opportunity they have in Drug Court. The opportunity to come out without a record, while being given treatment to deal with the substance abuse issue. And yet, substance abuse is surely only the tip of the iceberg for many, if not all, who stand before that judge.

The opportunity not to have to say in 40 years, "This stuff just never goes away."

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How's Your ZZZZ Program?

Today is Sunday. Like many of you, I was raised to believe that it was a day of rest. In my particular strand of belief, I understood it to be something we were forced to do because God. A day of rest wasn't really something we needed for any reason that I was aware of. Years ago, stores were closed on Sundays, so we certainly didn't go hang at the mall for the afternoon. When stores began to open on Sundays, I knew people who made it a point of conviction for them not to shop on Sundays, but again, that was because God.

Who hasn't heard that we process an enormous amount of information every day. This infographic is just one example of the extreme amounts.

http://www.adweek.com
/socialtimes/social-
media-overload/488800

Ideas abound. Fasting. Time limitations. Apps that keep us from looking at too many things at once. Ways to configure our devices that minimize the number of interruptions we experience. Quiet hours. Parental controls (some parents still need those).

Besides the waterfall of info coming at us every minutes we are using our devices, some of us also watch television (which in my opinion, is even worse with the amount of information they cram on one screen).

Yes, but how about SLEEP? What are your beliefs about sleep? What do you base your beliefs on?

I listened to Episode 259 of The Extreme Health podcast today. Shawn Stevenson was interviewed. Shawn has made it his business to become an expert on sleep because he believes it has implications for a healthier body, better overall health and bigger successes in our lives.

Besides a goodly number of helpful tips about sleep hygiene, I came away remembering that I am a citizen of the Earth and am intimately connected to the patterns and cycles of the seasons, the day and nights, and the years. Perhaps my demands that every day of the year be treated equally is missing the point that winter and summer are different seasons, and may ask us to do different things. Things that are even more different than simply wearing different clothes and scraping the snow and ice off of our cars.

Maybe there is a quieting in the winter that we could emulate in our schedules and our activities. Maybe there is an openness in summer we could emulate by being outside more and staying up a little longer since we have more light.

Let me leave you with a poem today by Thomas Campion.

Now Winter Nights Enlarge

Now Winter Nights Enlarge
     This number of their hours:
And clouds their storms discharge
     Upon the airy towers.
Let now the chimneys blaze
   And cups o'erflow with wine,
Let well-turned words amaze
   With harmony divine .......

This time doth well dispense
   With lovers' long discourse;
Much speech hath some defense,
    Though beauty no remorse.
All do not all things well:
     Some measures comely tread,
Some knotted riddles tell,
     Some poems smoothly read.
The summer hath his joys,
     And winter his delights;
Though love and all his pleasures are but toys
     They shorten tedious nights.

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