Auction!

No, not THAT auction (although that one starts in MAY and I am SO excited), the Cub Scout Father/Son Cake Bake Auction.

Have you ever been to one of these auctions? Should I say, have you ever been BLESSED to be at one of these events? Have you ever participated? Well, if not, you are sorely missing out.

Here's a brief run down of exactly what you are "missing out" on:

• Three trips to the grocery store because they ran out of food coloring - twice.
• Screaming phrases coming from the kitchen like, "I AM NOT DOING THIS FOR ME - GET BACK HERE".
• A child whining "I want to go to the park, why does HE (accusingly pointing at the younger brother I have been trying to keep out of the kitchen all day) get to go to the park but I don't".
• A finished product with only one missing piece (due to a younger brother getting handsy) that they TRIED (in vain) to fill in with frosting.
• Enough frosting to clog a few of your arteries.
• Enough food coloring to be shitty purple for two weeks (because they used both red and blue food coloring).
• An auction where parents pay OBSCENE amounts of money for a cake that they made themselves (the highest cake went for $100 the lowest for $15) and their children have been sneezing on all night.
• Children who cry throughout the entire auction process because you won't let them bid.
• Children who cry at the END of the auction process because there seemed to have been a mix up and the cake you THOUGHT you won actually went to the person who was sitting directly in front of you (and had already started picking at it before you could even say anything).
• A stop at the grocery store on the way home to buy ANOTHER cake to replace the one you THOUGHT you won but, obviously, didn't.
• Cake at 8pm - past children's bedtimes.

Fun times, fun times....

I'll provide you with pictures of the cake when Kirby decides to get them onto the computer from the camera.

Autism Awareness Month Part II

This is more from the brochure that EANH will be distributing throughout local schools for parents and students to learn acceptance and tolerance.

Symptoms of Autism:

· Spinning objects
· Demands routine; resists change
· Difficulty in expressing needs, using gestures or pointing instead of words
· Repeating words or phrases in place of normal, responsive
language
· Laughing and/or crying for
reasons not apparent to others
· Preference to being alone, aloof manner
· Tantrums
· Not wanting to cuddle or be cuddled
· Little or no eye contact
· Unresponsive to normal teaching methods
· Sustained odd play
· Obsessive attachments to objects
· Apparent over-sensitivity or under-sensitivity to pain
· No real fears of danger
· Noticeable physical over-activity or extreme under-activity
· Uneven or underdeveloped gross/fine motor skills
· Non responsive to verbal cues; appears to be deaf although hearing tests in normal range

Autism Awareness Month

April is Autism Awareness Month. Keep your eyes open as I intend to do, at least, one post per week dedicated to Autism Awareness and Tolerance. Most posts will be from a brochure my non-profit, Embracing Autism, NH has created to be distributed throughout schools in our area this month.

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are a broad category of disorders including Asperger’s Syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD), and Rett Syndrome. ASD cause abnormal brain function; those afflicted are often unable to engage in social activities and display atypical behaviors, such as repetitive movement and speech patterns, as well as an aversion to touch.

According to Jovana Ruzicic of the Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group, Environmental Working Group, the incidence of autism increased from 10 in 10,000 in the 1980s to about 60 in 10,000 today. Despite the current rise in autism diagnoses, the medical community has yet to discover any specific medical treatment.

Facts about Autism:

· Autism affects as many as 1 in 150 children
· Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the world
· More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with diabetes, cancer, & AIDS combined
· Boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism
· There is no medical detection or cure for autism, but early diagnosis and intervention improve outcomes
· Autism does not discriminate by geography, class, or ethnicity

From: www.worldautismawarenessday.org