This hand of “SIB” that has been dealt is not for the faint of heart. Most days it can bring the strongest to their knees. Watching your child who has a heart of gold and whose giggles could burst your heart, hurt themself is the lowest point of numb.
How can I help my baby?
Why is he doing this?
I ask these questions every single day.
I feel completely numb as if I’m not in my own body while my son is thrashing his sweet body around our floor. When he bangs his head off our walls and scratches himself until he bleeds, I do everything I can to protect him but I can only do so much. And I sit there, helpless and numb.
Numb, that’s the emotion, the feeling, and the way we live. I don’t cry anymore, I just don’t feel anything as if I’m not human while he’s doing it.
His superhuman strength tears away from me every time and I can’t stop him. He gets away and it’s all I can do to hold my hands by his head as he drops to the ground and fights with every muscle he has to protect his head.
His body that I created inside of mine, he is fighting and hurting. He’s bruising it, he’s scratching it and he’s trying to rid his body of the misery inside. It literally kills me inside to know how he must feel on the inside if he acts this way on the outside.
With therapies, medications, and love we will grow through this. We have to. It’s all we can do. We wake up every day and start all over just like everyone else.
We will grow through this, I promise that to my son.
I'm a stay at home mom to 3 young children. Blakely, our daughter, is 4. We have twin 3 year old boys named Lucas and Jameson. I've been married to my husband Logan for 6 years. Both of our boys have special needs.
Reebok has just unveiled its second Reebok x WONDER WOMAN collection and its the collab we need to finish out 2020. The collection is between Warner Bros. Consumer Products and DC and follows the Reebok x WONDER WOMAN 1984 line that debuted in September.
The second collection is all about the real life superheroes who are getting us through this year: education professionals and teachers. The campaign features four women who share their stories of navigating Covid-19 as teachers as well as being parents themselves.
Courtney Gould (Art Teacher), Jennifer Rutland (EVP of Realizing Children’s Strengths), Rachael Kinnealey (P.E./Health Teacher and BOKS Trainer) and Keisha Lewis (Paraprofessional and Teacher) share their stories in an inspiring film put together by the collab. Grab your tissues!
While superheroes and princesses are always popular Halloween costumes, there are real-life heroes in our community that deserve the same honor. This Halloween, Hefty is helping kids dress up as their real-life heroes with the new Hefty Garbage Collector costume. Plus the costume is so affordable you can dress your little one up without breaking the bank.
To honor garbage collectors for their frontline service and give their littlest fans the chance to dress up as their heroes, Hefty is introducing the Hefty Garbage Collector costume this Halloween. Beginning Sept. 29, costumes will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at http://www.HeftyHalloween.com for just $5.49 which is the same price as a box of Hefty Ultra Strong trash bags.
“At Hefty, we know that garbage collectors are real-life superheroes who prove their strength and dedication every day, and our kids recognize that too when they wait at the window for them to go by each week!” said Nicole Buddin, senior brand manager at Reynolds Consumer Products. “Since our trash bags offer top-notch quality and strength for an affordable price, we are bringing that same value to Halloween, giving kids the chance to dress up as their unsung garbage collector heroes for a price parents will love.”
While Halloween traditions like trick-or-treating may look different this fall, Hefty wanted to give families a reason to celebrate and have fun this season. With the Hefty Garbage Collector costume, little ones everywhere can still enjoy a day to remember by dressing up as their hero.
The limited-edition Hefty Garbage Collector Halloween costume fits most 2–4-year-olds and comes with a reflective vest, overalls, hat, gloves and a rolling garbage bin for kids, plus a box of Hefty Ultra Strong™ trash bags for parents to help with post-Halloween cleanup.
For more information about the Hefty Garbage Collector Halloween costume, or to purchase one, visit www.HeftyHalloween.com.
Introduce your little ones to the heroes around them. Hasbro announced Guess Who? Hometown Helpers, a game that celebrates healthcare workers, first responders and everyday heroes that have helped foster strength and community during the global health pandemic. Available for pre-order now, game proceeds support No Kid Hungry and build on Hasbro’s commitment to helping children and families most in need during the COVID-19 crisis.
Guess Who? Hometown Helpers is a new take on the family-friendly classic game that shines a light on essential careers, including Mom, Dad, Firefighter, Teacher, Nurse, Mail Carrier, Police Officer, Doctor and more. The game provides a sense of comfort and distraction for families during this uncertain time, while also giving parents the opportunity to have relatable conversations with their kids about inclusive play, the importance of these admirable careers and helping others.
“This year has brought a tremendous amount of hardship for so many families in the U.S., but through it we have also seen uplifting and profoundly inspirational stories,” says Eric Nyman, Chief Consumer Officer, Hasbro. “We wanted to honor that hard work, perseverance and positivity and bring it to life the best way we knew how, through games, which have provided relief and joy for families around the world as they continue to adjust in this challenging time.”
Guess Who? Hometown Helpers will retail at $14.99 and Hasbro is proud to donate $10.00 per item sold, for a max contribution of $100,000, to No Kid Hungry from now through Mar. 31, 2021. No Kid Hungry is a national campaign focused on ending childhood hunger in the United States. This contribution builds on Hasbro’s prior donation of more than $100,000 to No Kid Hungry as part of the Company’s overall COVID-19 response efforts.
“For the kids across the country who live with hunger, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been even more devastating,” said Diana Hovey, Senior Vice President of Corporate Partnerships at Share Our Strength, the organization behind the No Kid Hungry campaign. “The support from Hasbro through their financial contributions as well as proceeds from the Guess Who? Hometown Helpers game is helping to provide healthy meals to kids and families most in need during this critical time.”
Guess Who? Hometown Helpers includes 2 gameboards, 48 face cards, 24 mystery cards, 2 scorekeepers and instructions. To win the game, players will look at all the people helping in the community and guess the other player’s mystery helper. You can visit Hasbro Pulse to pre-order the game now. The game will ship in late-Oct. 2020.
Dangerously cheesy! Cheetos lovers have another way to enjoy their favorite cheesy snack. Get ready to fill your shopping cart with the combination of Cheetos and mac and cheese.
Cheetos Mac ‘n Cheese comes in three varieties: Bold & Cheesy, Flamin’ Hot and Cheesy Jalapeño.
“We’ve seen incredible culinary creativity from our Cheetos fans through the years, taking our product and using as an actual ingredient in recipes — whether at restaurants, or now more than ever, at home,” said Rachel Ferdinando, SVP, CMO Frito-Lay North America. “Cheetos Mac ‘n Cheese borrows that culinary inspiration to provide a mischievous mashup of an ordinary fan favorite. We’re putting our orange-dusted fingerprints on an at-home staple at a time when home mealtime occasions are on the rise.”
Beginning Aug. 8, fans can pick up Cheetos Mac ‘n Cheese in both single box and cup format at Walmart stores nationally or online for a suggested retail price of 98 cents. Keep an eye out for the product to be available at retailers nationwide in 2021.
“This one-of-a-kind innovation leverages the strength of our brands to hack into a household staple and take it to the next level with unique flavor experiences only Cheetos can provide,” said Kristin Kroepfl, VP, CMO Quaker Foods North America. “We look forward to bringing our passionate consumers the same Cheetos taste in a brand new way.”
Bed Bath & Beyond announced that it plans to close about 200 stores over the next two years. The retail chain, which also operates buybuyBABY, Christmas Tree Shops and Harmon Face Values, said it would be mainly closing Bed Bath & Beyond stores, starting later this year. Like many other retailers, Bed Bath & Beyond was forced to temporarily close their stores due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Mark Tritton, Bed Bath & Beyond’s President and CEO said, “The impact of the COVID-19 situation was felt across our business during our fiscal first quarter, including loss of sales due to temporary store closures and margin pressure from the substantial channel shift to digital. From the beginning of this crisis, we have taken measured, purposeful steps to help keep our people safe and our customers serviced, and we are proud of the way our teams have navigated this unprecedented challenge with speed and agility. At the same time, our actions to strengthen our financial position and liquidity are enhancing our flexibility and capacity to invest and rebuild our business for long-term success.
“With nearly all stores now open, we are delighted to welcome back our customers and drive an enhanced omni-always shopping experience. We are encouraged by early customer response, including continued strong demand, in excess of 80%, across our digital channels during the month of June, bolstered by the expansion of our Buy-Online-Pick-Up-In-Store (BOPIS) and Curbside Pickup services. We believe Bed Bath & Beyond will emerge from this crisis even stronger, given the strength of our brand, our people and our balance sheet,” Tritton added.
Being I spent my whole life trying to be tough. Trying to be strong. I learned early my sensitivity was seen as a weakness. I learned to suck it up, cry later. Take a joke. Get even instead of getting hurt. I learned strength was hardness, coldness.
I learned that competitiveness was strength. Winning an argument showed strength. Winning a game showed strength. Being angry when you didn’t win showed strength. I learned that asking for help was a weakness. Charity was always re-payed, in full. People weren’t allowed to do nice things for us without compensation. Independence was the ultimate sign of strength.
I learned that physical strength and a strong stomach was strength. Being tough was hauling hay with the boys, handling a horse on your own, hunting, butchering an animal, wringing a pheasant’s neck, gutting fish, baiting your own hook. Being tough was work without complaint.
I was tough. For years I was tough. I swallowed my tears. I held back my hurt. I was hard, cold, competitive. I was independent. I was offended when a man tried to tell me I didn’t need to do that “dirty farm work.” I’d work even harder to prove him wrong. I helped castrate animals, de-horn, and brand cattle, I pushed myself physically just to prove I could. Just to prove I was tough. I volunteered my time and my talents too often and too much. I refused to delegate because I was capable, I could do it on my own. I voiced my opinion, I became a leader, a doer.
i was strong.
I was tough.
And then I wasn’t.
I fell apart.
My strength cracked and crumbled away, and I finally saw it for what it was, an exterior, a shield. I stopped trying to be strong. For a very long time, I sank into my weakness. And that is where I learned what real strength was.
My husband and I have three amazing daughters. (And another one on the way!) We are trying to teach them to be tough little girls. We’re teaching them to be independent. We’re teaching them to work hard. They can do the dirty jobs. They know where their food comes from. They aren’t afraid of blood or birth. They understand death. But they are also learning what true strength is.
They’re learning that true strength is being able to ask for help, admitting your faults, and apologizing for your mistakes. Real strength is setting boundaries, saying no, protecting yourself, your energy, time, and mental health. Real strength is accepting your sensitivity as a gift. Strength is learning from your emotions. Being tough is loving yourself. Being tough is loving others. Being tough is forgiveness and letting go. Strength is listening, seeking to understand. Strength is knowing you deserve respect and demanding it. Being strong is being authentic. I thought I was a tough little girl that grew up into a strong woman until I painfully discovered I was neither. But in all that pain and weakness I re-learned what real strength was. And now I am strong. I am strong from the inside out. And because I am strong, I can raise tough little girls that will become strong women.
Amy is a creator and believes everyone else is too. She strives to be artistic in all areas of life but writing is her passion and her family is her masterpiece. She uses her blog to address the joys and struggles of motherhood and is currently writing her first novel.
In an ongoing effort to help parents and caregivers model strength for children and raise leaders who are empathetic, Slumberkins has released a brand new creature and book. Meet Ibex, who shows children that “toughness comes in even the softest of forms.”
The sweet and cuddly creature was born with a big heart and he feels things strongly. Even in spite of hardships, Ibex demonstrates how he becomes resilient, not hard-hearted when things become tough.
Ibex’s main message is to help littles embrace their deep feelings and understand that being sensitive is not something to be ashamed of, or hide away! He joins many other Slumberkins that teach about family bonding, emotional well being, conflict resolution, authenticity, gratitude and more.
You may have heard of a “little” best seller called, Girl, Stop Apologizing (2019) by multi-media company founder, Rachel Hollis. I don’t’ know about you but I’ve read it three times now, going on four. Hollis, speaker, author, and inspiring human being, calls us to action when she says, “It’s time to be yourself, unapologetically, and to show the world what happens when a woman challenges herself for greatness. It’s time to stop apologizing for who you are.” (p. 210).
I took her message to heart and started making changes in my own life, busting through some limiting beliefs and deciding to further design my dreams. Then, I considered how her compelling message could be brought to young girls and their parents. Here it is: our girls need to stop saying, “I’m sorry” so they can start embracing all they are meant to be.
Spend any amount of time with a growing girl and you’ll know this: they apologize all the time. “Sorry, I corrected you”, “Sorry, I made a mistake”, or “Sorry I just offered a creative idea.” No! Girls need to stop the insanity of excessively apologizing for who they are and all they offer. I asked girls why they apologize so much and they explained that sometimes it’s habit, or to fill awkward pauses in conversation. Yet, a lot of the time it’s because they are afraid of hurting someone’s feelings, disappointing people, or coming across as conceited.
Girls instinctively apologize for their voice, presence, ideas, opinions and dreams and this is troubling. Why? Because for every instant she says, “I am sorry” she is eroding her self-confidence and self-belief. Think about it: with each apology, she shrinks into herself and shies away from the power of her contribution. She is missing the opportunity to feel good about what she brings to the table.
Research tells us social media is damaging girls’ self-esteem. I’m not going to argue. Girls are constantly checking their feeds and feeling “not good enough” as they compare perfectly polished pictures with their own bodies and lives. Yet, I am going to argue that they are also damaging their own self-worth with their apologies. Can we all agree that’s it’s time to trade in her “I’m sorry’s” for some confidence boosters. Explain to her that when she apologizes and she hasn’t done anything wrong, she loses her inner strength and power. Conversely, when she apologizes when she is in the wrong, she gains power and feels empowered. When girls learn to withhold unnecessary apologies, they become more bold and brave. Isn’t this what all want? Here are three ways to do this:
Check yourself. I know I may sound like a broken record, but if you want your daughter to change in any way, you will need to ask yourself what you are modeling. If “I’m sorry” is your catch phrase, even when you have done nothing wrong, start by noticing. Ask yourself, “How often do I say I am sorry in a given day?” You may be shocked by your new awareness of how many times you utter these three words. Then, start to replace “I’m sorry…for asking for a favour” to a more assertive, “I have a favour to ask”. She is listening and she is learning and needs to see what “no apologizing” and “no limits” living looks like.
Notice her “I’m sorry’s”. Any time your daughter says she is sorry without reason, challenge her. Girls apologize to me all the time when I offer them treats. “I’m sorry, I took a cookie” to which I respond, “Why are you apologizing?” or “No need to apologize, how about we try again with something like – thank you for the cookie.” If she proffers an apology for her opinion, which, let’s face it, will inevitably be different from yours, respond with, “I appreciate your unique taste in music which we simply don’t share, but you do you.” This is not to say girls don’t need to apologize sometimes and be accountable for their words and actions such as when: they are late, forget to clean their room, or give us a sassy response. Notice when her apology is not warranted and help her see why.
Practice replacement phrases to cultivate her self-worth and replacement role models. I have three prompts I use a lot with girls to help them feel empowered: “I am…” (followed by a quality or value), “I can…” (followed by a talent or skill), and “I will…”(followed by a goal or commitment). These phrases subvert the apology and build her inner strength, from the inside out. At the same time, I am convinced that by giving girls positive examples of young women who are offering no apologies for who they are and the difference they want to make, we can reduce the negative impact of some of the social media influencers they are following. Point her towards powerhouses such as: Bethany Hamilton, Ally Raisman, Malala Yousafsai, Brie Larson, or Kharis Rogers who have overcome a shart attack, sexual assault, terrorism, and sexism, and racism.
Rachel Hollis offers no apologies for her hard work, passion and purpose, and success. I think that girls today and those supporting girls need to take a page out of Hollis’ book and stop apologizing to start believing and then becoming greater and greater every day.
I am a girl advocate and girls champion; the founder of Bold New Girls, teaching and coaching for girls and their parents. As well, I am the author Growing Strong Girls and Rooted, Resilient, and Ready (available on Amazon and Audible). I am an international speaker and an instructor with Udemy.
This Easter Sunday, churchgoers will not be permitted to enter a place of worship. An exception will be made for Andrea Bocelli. He will live-stream a concert on YouTube that evening from the historic Duomo Cathedral in Milan, Italy.
Bocelli said, “On the day in which we celebrate the trust in a life that triumphs, I’m honored and happy to answer ‘Sì’ to the invitation of the City and the Duomo of Milan. I believe in the strength of praying together; I believe in the Christian Easter, a universal symbol of rebirth that everyone – whether they are believers or not – truly needs right now. Thanks to music, streamed live, bringing together millions of clasped hands everywhere in the world, we will hug this wounded Earth’s pulsing heart, this wonderful international forge that is reason for Italian pride. The generous, courageous, proactive Milan and the whole of Italy will be again, and very soon, a winning model, engine of a renaissance that we all hope for. It will be a joy to witness it, in the Duomo, during the Easter celebration which evokes the mystery of birth and rebirth”
The Andrea Bocelli Foundation (ABF) has started a fundraiser to help hospitals purchase all the instrumentation and equipment necessary to protect their medical staff. It is possible to donate through the GoFundMe campaign.
