What's your story?

Just finished watching the movie "Nine Lives" - I didn't love it but it made me think. Made me think a lot. Made me realize that everyone has a story. Even the person that just cut you off in traffic has a story. Maybe their mom used to criticize their driving, so they drive a bit agressive. [Maybe they're really late for some super important. Thinking about it this way doesn't make it any better that they're driving poorly but it helps me react to them a bit differently - with more compassion, perhaps.]

Whatever those stories are, they shape you, drive you, hold you back, make you laugh, make you cry. I also got thinking that my story affects so much of who I am today, esp those negative issues that I have not yet dealt with. I guess people call that baggage, huh? And, nope, I do not want to be carrying all that around for the rest of my life. And it's so true that hurt people hurt people - I want to stop the cycle with me. Thank God that I have found Him - the one who has brought healing to my innermost being. And the good stories? Those are the ones that I relive sometimes, that I draw encouragement from, that make me stronger. Thank God for those! :)So, what's your story?

The blog entry that really made me think..

...is posted right here. Sometimes Kev and I will have this one discussion over and over, usually after midnight after we have both gone to bed: (and it goes something like this)

Me: "Honey, how did we end up going to bed after MIDNIGHT again?"
Hubby: "I'm not even sure. Time sure flies when you're on the web."
Me: "We should really cut back more on our web-surfing time, huh?"
Hubby: "Yeah, we say that a lot, huh?"
Me: "Yeah, we do, a bit too often..."

Anyhow, there's just so much on the internet these days. You wanna buy something? There' the forums to find out what is the best fit. Then there are the coupons to find to make it cheaper. But then you end up finding another great coupon and wonder if that store carries something similar. And on it goes. Then there are all these ways you can get in touch with old friends and keep in touch with them. [Plus, who doesn't like looking at pictures!! :)] There's really just so much information, that sometimes I feel like it drowns me. I find out about things I should be doing with the kiddies. Places I should visit. Things I should be doing to better my person, home management skills or to be even more "green" (AKA environmentally-conscious), etc. It really just never ends. Anyhow, all this to say, I really need to take a break and pray about what I really should be doing with my time. Because time is so precious and I can never get it back, esp. my time with the kids.

Our journey with congenital ptosis...

Aidan was born with congenital ptosis, which caused us to seek medical advice, prayers and more informal information as soon as we found out it would be a problem. But as we researched, we couldn't find much information, even on the web, so we thought we would blog a bit about our experience with it - in hopes of helping someone else. :)

Congenital ptosis simply means a droopy eyelid, usually present at birth. The pediatrician thought it might have been due to the way he was positioned in the womb and that the droopiness would correct itself. But unforunately, it did not. So, we started consulting with a pediatric ophthalmologist, who recommended that we start patching his good eye at 3 months to prevent lazy eye and to help his brain develop connections to his "little eye". So, this poor kid was patched several hours a day almost every day started at 3 month til about a week ago. The patching was helpful and there was normal development of the "little eye" but his vision wasn't 20/20. The ophthalmologist started to be concerned about his vision and recommended surgery as soon as possible.

We then searched for a pediatric ophthalmologist who still performed ptosis surgery (ours didn't) and found one that came highly recommended and was in our insurance network. This surgeon recommended a levator resection, which basically means to shorten the eyelid muscle (the levator) by removing a section of the muscle so the lid would open higher. This surgery was completed shortly before Aidan turned one. Unfortunately, this did not raise the lid high enough and we had to continue with the patching and close monitoring by the other ophthalmologist.

After Aidan turned 2, the ophthalmologist was more concerned about Aidan's eyesight after diagnosing him with astigmatism, which she feels was caused by the increased pressure of the lid on the eye. She then recommended a 2nd operation. We had wanted to put off any further surgery because after a certain age, this type of operation can be done using local anesthesia vs. general anesthesia. But as we continued to watch Aidan have more difficulty seeing things (having to lift his chin to help him see or look to the side for more clarity), we decided to go ahead with another surgery, sooner rather than later.

By the time we decided on another surgery, we had already moved down to FL and we really questioned if we would be able to find a great surgeon, since we heard most of the eye specialists were concentrated in the Northeast. However, we finally found a surgeon who did fellowships in Ophthalmology, Pediatrics, and Plastics - making him the perfect candidate to be the surgeon for our son - Dr. Steven Gross in Palm Harbor, FL! Praise the Lord!! AND, he was also in-network. We felt so relieved! Anyhow, last Wednesday was the date of the 2nd surgery and it went really well. This time around, Aidan had the frontalis transposition done. This procedure basically takes the eyelid muscle and attaches it to his eye brow muscle so that he can lift the eyelid with his brow more effectively, while still allowing him to close his eyes when he wants to. [Another resection might have lifted his lid more but might have prevented him from closing his eyes, thereby causing dry eye issues.] He recovered quickly the day of the surgery - yay! [Getting a new train from the Thomas the Tank brand also helped.] The hardest part was preventing him from his usual antics (playing with this head on the ground, rolling around, etc) and not taking him to the playground (so he wouldn't get dirt in his incision). We've also had to patch his eye during naps and nighttime sleep to prevent him from touch the incision area. But Aidan was a real trooper - I'm so proud of him! :) We didn't take any pics the day of but took some Post-op Day #3 when we finally took him out of the house - you can see pic here. We're now praying for a quick and complete healing!

And as you can see, there aren't a whole lot of articles for parents of kids with ptosis that we could find. A lot of articles were comparing procedures or describing them but most of them were written using medical jargon. We hope reading our experience was helpful for someone else. If you need more info, feel free to email me - mama4jc@gmail.com! :)

***UPDATED POST HERE. :)

How I got a free bag of Kettle Corn...

So, Saturday was Touch-A-Truck Day at the local park and we decided to bring the kids, though it was only 3 days after Aidan's surgery (more on that later). But since he bounced back to his normal "tiggerish" self shortly after his surgery and his eyelid looked pretty good, we thought we'd go for it. Plus, what other chance would kids have to be able to climb into all these different vehicles and push all the buttons and touch everything?! But I digress. Besides all the vehicles parked on the premises for this event, there were also vendors with their wares and edible items for sale. We had given the kids Kettle Corn before and they LOVED it! So, as soon as Aidan got whiff of it, he started asking for some. We are trying to cut down on expenses, so we buy it for them once in a while and we decided not to buy it this time around. We were able to distract him by pointing in the direction of some trucks, so he stopped pestering us. :) After a good half hour of immense fun, we started to hear whirring above. A helicopter was arriving for this event and they were flying it directly across the park for dramatic effect...though they definitely forgot about all the vendors below because things started flying every which way from the winds produced by the blades and the dirt was getting all stirred up, getting into everyone's faces. As the helicopter drew close, some vendors lost the umbrellas and tents that once had covered their stands. One umbrella-on-the-loose started towards Jana and I and I sidestepped that one no problem. I turned around to look at it, thinking to myself that I was so quick....then BAM! something hit me on the leg...hard enough that it knocked me to the ground. I deftly tried to fall on my hip so Jana (who is still in my arms) wouldn't get hurt. I turned around and saw the tent for the Kettle Corn stand that had just hit us head for more people. Doh! Anyhow, both Jana and I are OK. We survived unscathed, save for a humongorus bruise that was already developing on my thigh and a tender hip area. People who saw this incident immediately rushed over to check on us, including the guy who owned the Kettle Corn stand. He also rushed over with the biggest bag of Kettle Corn he had and said, "Here, take this. This is the least I can do." I managed to mumble a thank you, though I was still a bit dazed. Anyhow, I later rejoined Kev and Aidan and handed Aidan this huge bag of Kettle Corn. "Here you go," I said, "uhhh, I got you a bag of Kettle Corn." Anyhow, after I told the story to Kev and a few of our friends that were with us, we all had a good laugh. And don't worry, I'm fine - after several applications of Arnica gel (love this stuff!) and lots of prayer, I'm pretty much back to normal. The moral of the story: Always keep your eyes peeled for flying objects. :) Enjoy!

German board games after the kids go to bed?

Who would have thought that we would be playing German board games after the kids go to bed at night? Kev and I had been doing the ol' watch TV or watch a movie or surf the net after the kids go to sleep routine but it was getting a bit boring. Plus, we felt like we weren't interacting very much during these activities. So, to solve that problem, we thought "let's play some games together!". We looked at our sad assortment - Cranium, Hoopla, Apples to Apples and Boggle - and realized with just the 2 of us, we can only play Boggle. Then after a while, we were all "boggled-out", so I started to research boardgames online. [Yay, I love to do research online. Hehe.] Anyhow, long story short, I picked out some German boardgames for us to try. [I think my H.S. German teacher would be proud! :)] So far, we've purchased: Lost Cities, Carcassonne, and Battle Line. We've played the first two and found them very interesting. Lost Cities is easy to figure out and the more we play it, the more we want to play it, which is what makes a good game in our eyes. We've only played Carcassone once, but found the game concept really interesting. Anything that causes us to have to strategize and think (though not TOO hard late at night) makes it a good game, in my opinion. :) Anyhow, just about to play Battle Line, so will have to report back on that soon. How exciting!

And as with almost anything I've researched, I've found forums on this subject matter. The most active one that I've found thus far is called Boardgamegeek and they offer forums on game strategies, advice on which game to get, where to get them, and even offer pictures on what the games look like when setup. Oh, how I love forums (AKA real user advice). :) Anyhow, I'm off to a game!

Some book reviews :)

There are some things that we've tried and really liked lately, so I thought I'd share my thoughts here. :)

THE SNEAKY CHEF by Missy Chase Lapine
I'm sure a lot of you have heard lots about this book. Its premise is to sneak healthy ingredients into comfort foods to up the nutritional value. So, you'll find spinach in brownies, beans in cookies and avocadoes in milkshakes, for example. Even though our kids love vegetables for the most part [I feel so blessed!], I still would like to increase their fiber, protein and vitamin/mineral intake. [That's the dietitian in me speaking. Hehe.] Anyhow, I was a bit skeptical but decided to try it out since our library had a copy. Wow, was I in for a big surprise! So far, we've tried 3 recipes and LOVED them all! We made a scumptious breakfast cookie, a decadent chocolate chip cookie and a super fluffy pancake. The best thing was that the kids could have these treats and I felt good giving it to them. No one (not even dear hubby) could tell there was all this added goodness in there. So, I highly recommend you check this out!

Lately, Ms. Lapine was criticized for trying to hide these nutritious ingredients instead of making them more apparent. Her critics were concerned that this was not teaching kids to each a more balanced diet. However, if you continue to encourage your kids to eat more fruits and vegetables (and more fiber) ON TOP of serving them nutritious treats, you can't lose. :) Just my 2 cents.

BOOK CORNER
We go the library at least once a week and since Aidan and Jana love books, we usually end up carrying a bagful home each time. Here are some books Aidan has been pouring over recently:
The Red Book by Barbara Lehman - A wordless book that has an interesting twist to it. :)
What Do You Do With Tail Like This by Robert Page, Steve Jenkins - A wonderfully educational book that introduces fun animal parts to little ones. Awesome cut-out illustrations!
Flotsam by David Weisner - Another wordless book about being at the beach with an interesting twist.
Museum Trip by Barbara Lehman - [I guess we're on a roll with these wordless books, eh? I guess we've been picking them because I've been trying to speak more Chinese to the kids and it's easier not to translate, if you know what I mean. Also, Jana just likes looking at the pictures sometimes, so it helps her to stay interested. :) I also have Aidan tell me the story sometimes and without the words, he feels like he can tell it back to me more readily. :)] I love the surprise ending to this book! And Aidan likes to help the boy finish the maze. :)
The Adventures of Polo by Regis Faller - Polo has such an adventure in this book and it keeps you guessing - a real page turner for Aidan.
Fish Faces by Norbert Wu - Aidan liked it so much we bought it for him! But great pictures of various kids of fish with a guide in the back. Kev actually wrote in all the names right next to the picture of the fish so we didn't have to keep flipping back and forth. One of the first books Aidan memorized. ;)
My Visit to the Aquarium by Aliki - This book helped Aidan relive his aquarium trips. Sometimes when he asks to go the the awuarium and we're unable to, I try to whip out this book so he can go there in his mind, at least. :) Great illustrations!
Follow the Line Through the House by Laura Ljunkvist - A really fun book that has you literally following the lines through the house to explore all the rooms. There are also activities on each page to keep it educational. :) Jana just liked looking at all the stylistic pictures and bright colors.

Jana has been picking:
Where's Spot by Eric Hill - What can I say, a true classic! But I think what really drew Jana to this book was the fact that she got to say her favorite word of the moment at each page - "NO!". :)
Spot's First Walk by Eric Hill - I think she's loving the flip-the-flap books. :)
The Nose Book by Al Perkins - Aidan had really liked this one, too. But Jana loves this book and likes to point at all the noses she can find when we're reading it [though her finger sometimes ends up in your nose sometimes...haha!].
The Eye Book by Theodore Lesieg - She's also fascinated with eyes - maybe she's revelling in the fact that she knows her body parts and can point to them when asked?
Chicka Chicka ABC by Bill Martin, Jr, John Archambault, Lois Ehlert - A fun book similar to Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Bright, fun colors, too! :)

Alrighty, more later! G'night!

...all that grey matter

You know what I'm talking about - the stuff that is not black and white. :) J/K! I've been thinking a lot about how difficult it is to be a Christian sometimes. There are those things that the Bible explicitly tells us to do: spread the Word, love others, get to know Christ as the number one thing, etc. There are also the things that the Bible explicitly tells us NOT to do: kill, lie, covet, be jealous, etc.. Then there is everything in between: what I call, the grey stuff. And, sheesh, there is a whole lot of it. When I became a parent, there is even more of it I have to deal with because, I guess, there are more parties involved. Sometimes, talking about that stuff makes me a bit tense, and I have to go back to what God has taught me about them.

[For those that care to know what some of those 'grey matter' can be in my life:
-Homeschool vs Public School
-Whether or not to use Birth Control
-How to discipline kids (ie spanking or not)
-How to raise kids (ie attachment parenting, etc)
-Staying at home or work
and blah, blah, blah....they carry so much emotion for me as I think or talk about them, so I know that making decisions about these things mean a lot to me. ]

So, what have I learned? Honestly, for me, there is no one correct answer for everyone. Yes, I've read articles and had discussions on the biblical basis for homeschooling or attachment parenting. But the thing is, it's a lot how you interpret scripture and how far you want to extrapolate the meaning. I really feel that the Bible remains 'grey' about these issues because there is no universal answer that applies to everyone. So, where does that leave me? It leaves me with the fact that God has given me certain personalities and traits that make me who I am and how I'm prone to handle things. So, that might skew me towards one way or the other or a mix of the 2 extremes. I do believe that God gave me those traits for a reason and that it's ok to go my own path, if I choose. I'm also left with the fact that God will tell me if he wants us to choose a certain path for our family, which reminds me that the prerequisite for hearing his voice is to stay close to Him. Still working on that. :) But at least I do tell Him that I value His opinion and want to please Him with what I do. :D And when He stays silent, I feel the ok to go with what I want. [At least that's what I got out of a certain Graham Cooke tape and man, that revelation was soo freeing for me!!]

The hard part for me is that I'm a people person [read: people pleaser] for the most part. I find myself oftentimes being very emphathetic towards others and then see how both sides could work for me. And that leaves me right back where I usually start, in the middle. ;) In the past, I also try to please others first, esp my parents, but now I realized I can (and should) please God and still honor others. The flip side is that I feel badly when I feel strongly about an issue because I feel like I can't see the opposing view at all and fear I will end up judging them. That is something I'm still working on. Life is to short to judge other or be mean, that's what I figure. Anyhow, I wanted to leave this post with something totally irrevelant but light-hearted and happy....

We had ordered something from Gap online a while ago and I had kinda forgotten about it. [Yeah, it's true, it wasn't something we NEEDED. ::sheepish::] Anyhow, I remembered to check on the shipment status today and saw that it was delivered on the 27th. But, wait, it's the 28th and I didn't get a pkg!? So, I investigate and found out that it was delivered to our old place in NEW JERSEY!!! Doh! What to do? I decided to call my old real estate agent to see if she can figure out a way for us to contact the new owner. After a very nice conversation, she assures me that she will go by the house [she lives very close to it] to leave a note for the owner to call her and will also call the owner's agent in the morning. A few hours later, I get a call from the agent and she said that she had the owner on the phone b/c he happened to be home when she knocked on his door. He kindly asked for our Florida address and told me that he would ship it there tomorrow, no problem, since he works for UPS anyways. And, get this, he wanted to pay for shipping!?!?!! That was such a blessing for me! He even went on to ask about the kids [he had come over a few times while checking out the house and had met the kiddies - Jana, esp., took a liking to him.]. Anyhow, it was just a reminder to me that there are still lots of nice people out there. I'm sure you knew that already but sometimes I forget. :) And re: shipping stuff, I had ordered a pair of shoes from Zappos.com around 10:30pm on Friday night and got a package Saturday morning at 9am?!?! I know they offer free overnight shipping but, man, do they not sleep? Haha! Anyways, I'm super impressed! Alrighty, storytime is over - I'm going to bed. G'night!

...the stuff of life...

With a title like that, you know that this post will be random, don't you? :)

Updates
Kev will be finishing up his Spine Fellowship at the end of June 2008, so he's currently on a hunt for a new job. And, most likely, we'll be moving again. Yes, we are a member of the 'Frequent Movers Club'. :) But honestly, now that I look back on our almost 5 short years of marriage and having moved 4 times already, I wouldn't have it any other way. More on that later. The kiddies are doing well - Aidan is very much the helpful 3 y.o. lately, wanting to do almost everything himself. And, hey, I'm not stopping him! :D I am definitely there to supervise, however, making sure that his shirt is on the right way, that his underwear is all the way up before he attempts the pants and that only the garbage goes into the trash, not the bowl that was holding the goods. It's been more fun lately and I feel like he's so grown up. Gotta take hold of the years where they want to hang out with you, I'm saying to myself already! Jana is getting more verbal and active. She's very much the people person and loves to engage others, whether they want to engage with her or not! Ha! [She'll basically stare someone down until they look back at her....hehe. No, she did not get that from me. ;)] She's full of cute sayings (lots of Chinglish) and fun antics. She's also well-known for climbing up things we don't think she can climb and all the while being super quiet about it, so she can accomplish her task uninterrupted. Ahem. But thank goodness for the "Little Enforcer" in our house (AKA Big Bro Aidan), she's always discovered. The 2 kiddies are also starting to play better together - hallelujah! For me, I'm still meeting new moms all over the place and getting to know more people from church, which is so nice. God's also teaching me new things about my relationship with Him but more on at a later date. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we have nothing planned at all. How did that happen? Our grand plan was to invite some international students over for a traditional American Thanksgiving meal but by the time I had located the correct coordinators for the local Friends of Internationals, it was too late and all the students had been matched up. A good problem, I suppose. :) Then we thought about running/jogging/walking the Turkey Trot with the kids but it was too late to register online and if you wanted to register the day of, you had to get there at an ungodly hour. Welp, both Kev and I wanted to sleep in, if possible, on his only day off, so we're just going to play it by ear tomorrow. Maybe a nice hike somewhere - it IS going to be in the low 80s tomorrow. [Mwwwaahaha to you Northerners!] So, we'll see what we end up doing.

Facebook
This darn thing...it's so fun yet sucks so much of my time away. But recently, a whole slew of old highschool friends popped up on there and all of a sudden, I'm having a virtual HS reunion on facebook! And it's been so fun seeing what everyone's been up to, where they're located now and what they look like. :) I'll hafta admit that I keep expecting everyone to look the same as they did in HS b/c I definitely still do (NOT!). Haha! Anyhow, if only I could write programs, I would write a little program called "The Last 10 Years" so ppl can read about it on my profile (since that's all I've been writing about for the past week). :)

Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood
[Can this post get more random?] I've been on the hunt for cool kids' music lately b/c Wiggles and the like can get old really fast. I wanted something that I don't mind listening to and that can hopefully teach them something, too. Last night at the library, I found this CD that took Mr. Rogers' songs and remade them. Honestly, some of them were kinda cheesy (to me, at least) but there was a DVD about the people who were on this project and their thoughts on Mr. Rogers. Can I tell you, I was balling through most of this DVD. I've never watched his show consistently and when I would happen upon it sometimes, I would think it was kinda boring. But when I actually took the time to listen to the lyrics of his songs, they really touched me. The messages are the ones that we all needed to hear as kids - that you are liked b/c of you and not because of what you do (unconditional love), that it's ok to be mad or have negative feelings, etc. Plus, he is so genuine and so REAL - kids can always tell if you're trying to fake something. It's kinda uncanny but true. Anyhow, Kev tells me he watched half an hour of Mr. Rogers everyday when he grew up and he really like it. He said it made him feel loved, important and he got Mr. Rogers' full attention everyday for 30 minutes. Anyhow, thank you so much, Mr. Rogers - thanks for being so humble, loving and caring. I appreciate you. :)

Not By Accident
I'm a firm believer that nothing happens by accident. There is always a purpose behind it that we might just never find out about. Sometimes, it the midst of something bad happening, I catch myself saying, "This is really awful, why is this happening?" but then afterwards realize the greater purpose. [I think back on the countless stories of ppl missing their morning train into the city due to some traffic on 9/11 and being mad about it, only to find out this caused them to miss being in the WTC when the planes hit.] Though sometimes I never find out. And I guess at those moments I just choose to be positive because living on the other side, which I have before, really stinks. Being negative really sucks the energy out of you and it's just no fun to live that way. Anyhow, since we've moved a lot, I've always felt a twinge of sadness that we'd had to leave friends and/or family behind. But you know, if we didn't leave, we would never have met all these other wonderful friends that we now have in IL, NY, DE or FL. And we would never have the oppportunities that we did have. Therefore, we're so thankful for the friends that we have over the long haul and those we have for a season. :)

Anyhow, I always have so much stuff in my head to blog about but this post has been random enough. So, have a great Thanksgiving 2007!

...thoughts on mothering

Having been a mom for over 3 years now, I've come to a realization about a few things that I would like to get down on "paper". So, here goes. :)

Motherhood is all about change, and it never stops. From the moment you're preggers, your life is not the same. [Not that life, non-preggers, ever stands still or anything - but being pregnant is a HUGE change!] We're talking fluctuating emotions, fluctuating hormones , the ever-expanding waistline [the one time I didn't love shopping b/c I had to do it so often!], and sometimes the swollen feet and on it goes. And from the moment that baby is born, life is REALLY never the same - not to mention the changes that goes on with your body just to get the baby out - but I'm not going to go there with this post. ;) Then after you get over those initial sleepless nights and feel like you've gotten some sort of routine down, the baby goes through a growth spurt or something else and it all changes up again. Then there are the discipline issues and then the worrying about school/homeschool and the blah, blah, blah. But in the midst of this, there is God who grants us so much grace. I've become so reliant on it these days, asking for enough grace to get through the day with the kids, to enjoy them and to enjoy the people around me, even if they don't seem to enjoy me. :) And through this change, we grow and mature and sometimes when I take a moment to look at where I was when Aidan was first born, I am definitely not who I was and that's a good thing. :)

Now that the kiddies are older, the issue of discipline crops up mulitple times everyday. ;P After reading lots about it and asking older moms about it, I've come to realize this one thing: tt's all about the heart attitude. I can say the same thing and possibly in the same tone, but if I'm truly angry inside, the kids can tell. And now that Aidan is articulate enough, he sometimes asks me "Are you annoyed?" Doh! How could he tell? All I said was "Please take your fork from between your toes and put it into your bowl." I even tried to say it without much emotion! Anyhow, so that's another area that I've been praying into - my heart attitude. And after praying more, I realize that there is still a lot of healing that needs to take place. We had gone to a marriage conference way back [more here] that spoke of how our past (from when we might be even too little to have much cognitive memory about it) can still affect you today, causing you to have strong negative emotions about situations that shouldn't cause you to react that strongly. So, praise God for being able to fix us up, even when we don't always know what's wrong!

I had spoken to other moms about this before and we all agree that motherhood is a refining process. Through the sleepness nights, transitions, discipline issues and such, we find out who we are. I thought I was a pretty patient person. I thought I was good at giving grace. I thought I was good at giving without expecting in return. I thought I loved cooking. ;) Well, you get the idea. But I would say that I discovered some positive things about myself, too. I mean, after you give birth, or even just carried your baby for 9 months, you feel like Super Woman. [And you ARE for doing so!] So, praise God for allowing us these experiences to help us become the person that He wants us to be: free, loving, compassionate, wise, strong and fully reliant on Him. :)

I am so humbled that God chose me to be my kiddies' mom - I do feel so inadequate sometimes but I remember that God calls us to do impossible things b/c He wants us to rely on Him and have peace through it all. Sometimes, it's hard not to compare to those SuperMoms out there who seem to do everything so well. But God reminded me not to compare but to bless them and do my best, giving the hard areas to Him and have PEACE. More peace, Jesus! :)

There's more that I've learned but I haven't digested it all yet. But if anyone has anything else to share, please do!

...yikes, all these toy recalls!!

I'm sure a lot of you have been reading or at least heard about all these toy recalls in recent months due to excessive levels of lead in the paint for toys. Not that toy recalls are uncommon but there has just been so many of them lately, it's disheartening. And after reading about the stories behind it [and who knows who has the REAL story], it's kinda confusing. The basic schpiel [from what I've gathered] is that some European company had tested some of the toys that they had made in China and found unacceptable levels of lead in them, which caused American companies to test their products, as well. Unfortunately, the more they tested, the more lead-laced toys they found, which started the massive recalls. Some companies even started recalling toys that were "suspected" to have lead in them, causing more panic in already alarmed parents. So, that frustrated me - not knowing which toys were safe for the kiddies since J still chews on them sometimes. Then it was reading all the articles in newspapers and blogs simply blaming the Chinese for this entire fiasco which also really frustrated me. In my opinion, in life, nothing is that cut and dry, black and white. There are so many sides to this story and I'm finding out even more as I read. So, in short, I'm not defending the Chinese goverment or trying to shift the blame onto someone else. And, along with the authors of the aforementioned articles, I do not agree with the Chinese government for their lack of Human Rights policies nor do I think that their government does not need better policies in terms of lead paint, etc.. OK, just wanted to cover that. :) But what I want to point out is that blaming any one party does not get us anywhere. And if you want to talk blame, this woman says it well:

"While China and the underfunded CPSC are partly to blame, so are American importers, retailers, investors and consumers, who variously demand lower prices, higher sales and increased growth - all at the expense of quality, said Mary Teagarden, a Thunderbird School of Global Management expert in offshoring. Downward price pressure exerted by big-box retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. squeezes suppliers all the way down the supply chain, Teagarden said." (article)

It makes me think: What about the American companies who are supposed to be checking up on these factories? [A side note to applaud Mattel for taking responsibility (article) for their part in this and to applaud the Melissa & Doug company for showing that it's possible to make quality, lead-free toys in China (blog entry).] Is my demand for cheaper toys contributing to this whole mess? Should I start making my own toys from organic materials grown in my backyard in organic soil? J/K! Anyhow, I'm getting off the soapbox now. I just wanted to share another perspective on this situation. Phew! :)