Spirit Week Festivities!!

It's Spirit week at the High School and the Homecoming Game is tonight, so take a quick look at my boys and their new look!!

TURN UP THE VOLUME!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Picking my Battles this morning...

It's Friday...

I am up at 4:30 making 8 lunches... I got some really yummy Boars Head Chicken Breast at the Deli yesterday and was busily making sandwiches when David appeared behind me...

I don't get "good morning" or "Hi" or even "whats for breakfast?" Instead... I can hear the tone in his voice already... " MOM... IT'S FRIDAY.... I WANT TO BUY PIZZA!!" ugh. Friday.... the most dreaded day of the week when it comes to lunches.

All week long, I pack healthy lunches, lunches that are calorie conscience, I keep it creative using different rolls, wraps, veggies and spreads. I pack different snacks using fruit, and 100 calorie snacks, yogurts etc... Then, along comes Friday morning with Pizza for lunch Looming at me.

Part of me wants to take a stand and say "NO Pizza" but the other part of me sees my almost 14 year old son who desperately wants to be like everyone else... he is so good all the time... his weight is in control.. of course he wants pizza.

As I stand there with a piece of chicken breast posed over David's roll I can hear the urgency in his voice... " MOM... PIZZA!!!"

Something as simple as pizza for lunch at school, when you have a child with PWS is enough to turn the whole morning upside down.

I could say no,

I should say no...

I should just drop the piece of chicken on the roll in front of me and finish making his sandwich. School pizza... zero nutrition, high calories and fat... enough to undermine the entire day nutritionally. But yet, I stand there trying to decide... " MOM..PIZZA... PLEASE?" my hand moves back over the deli wrapper and I drop the chicken breast back in the wrapper. Behind me I hear " Yesss!... Thanks Mom!"

...and so the day begins.

It's a constant balancing act.. keeping a child with PWS healthy and their food intake in control and allowing them to be kids. David wants nothing more than to fit in, to be like everyone else. Food is such a HUGE part of our society and although our kids with PWS will NEVER have control when it comes to food, my hope is that I can offer my kids a balance of healthy eating so that they can enjoy some of the treats that come up in everyday life. It isn't easy and it isn't fair.. but it is our reality.

Have a good weekend everyone.

~Vicki

Wordless Wednesday...

Bill Gates View on Life...

As many of you may know....Over the past week, we have had quite a bit of turmoil on The Varsity Football team that Alex and Aric play on. 99% of the turmoil was created by kids and parents who have this "entitlist" attitude about not just football... but life in general. Many of these nay-sayers have even called for the Head Coaches job because their little precious isn't getting enough play time or isn't playing the position they want to... The problem is that this attitude will carry over into other parts of these kids lives! The following was sent to me this morning and it couldn't be more true!!

Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this! Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying y our bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

If you agree, pass it on. If you can read this - Thank a teacher!