Sally's World

I saw my good friend Trojan yesterday (http://www.trojansgallery.blogspot.com/) and we got into a rather heavy discussion about a very important issue.

Did we spend our time discussing the issues of world peace, famine, war, disease you may ask...NO! While the world is in the grip of this terrible recession, we discussed something on the tip of every ones tongue...yep! we discussed Time Travel!!...of course....

Now I love a good sci fi, I love watching films that make us wonder..but come on...its not really going to happen is it. There is one existence...and we are in it, surely its obvious that for time travel to be even remotely possible, there would have to be millions and gazillions of parallel universes happening simultaneously..nope, I just don't buy it....

Then Trojan came up with this Little gem!!!! time travel to the past is not possible, the past is gone, no going back...good, we agree on that then....but, nope, he thinks time travel to the future is the more probable to be possible...please, Trojan, I Love you dearly, but it is just too unreal...it's like visiting a house that isn't built yet...like the past, it doesn't exist...yes, the world may be heading in a certain direction, and there are many things beyond our control...but we can't nip in for a visit...

Besides, if time travel were possible, don't you think that all the superheroes (because of course, they ARE real, and if anyone could build a time machine it's them)would not have travelled into the future a few times, seen what a mess we'd made of things, then popped back and prevented the worst things from happening...honestly!

So you see...if Wonder Woman can't do it...it can't be done!!!

As you know my youngest son, Deion has Cerebral palsy, I was talking to Trojan the other day and he rightly pointed out that not everyone knows what that is exactly. After he did the amazing 'Yellow Lightning' comic book for Deion, one of his work colleagues asked him about Deion and Cerebral Palsy.

I'm not an expert...except on Deion's Cerebral Palsy and how it affects him... but here a few facts...

Cerebral Palsy is a broad term used to describe a group of chronic movement or posture disorders. “Cerebral” refers to the brain, while “Palsy” refers to a physical disorder, such as a lack of muscle control. Cerebral Palsy is not caused by problems with the muscles or nerves, but rather with the brain’s ability to adequately control the body. Cerebral Palsy can be caused by injury during birth, although sometimes it is the result of later damage to the brain. Symptoms usually appear in the first few years of life and once they appear, they generally do not worsen over time.

Deion was born 12 weeks early, and had a severe brain hemorrhage at 4 days old, affecting a large part of his brain, and the ventricles in the centre of his brain also swelled leaving the rest badly scarred.

As the right side of Deions brain was affected the most, he has no use of his left side, but it affects both his legs and all his muscles. Its called triplegia.

Of course, there is so much more to it, and there is a huge range scale of how it affects children.I know lots of kids with Cerebral Palsy, and you would never know there was anything wrong, others are severely limited and speech, eating and even blinking can be affected. Deion is not affected intellectually, just physically, but this is not always the case.

Deion has the type of Cerebral Palsy that means his muscles are tight, so he has physiotherapy and a series of stretches and exercises to help lengthen and release the tight ones, and others to help strengthen the weak ones. Without them, Deion would find it hard to sit straight, hold his head or use his arms.

He has an occupational therapist to help with his hands, she makes him special splints to stop his hand bending over at the wrist, and gives us exercises to help him with his grip.

The speech and language therapist helps with...wait for it...no not speech LOL! chewing and swallowing...anything to do with the mouth and throat muscles. She tells us what he should and shouldn't eat, consistency, texture e.t.c so he doesn't cough and aspirate while eating.

So these are the main ways that cerebral palsy affects Deion, it is different for every child depending on what part of the brain is injured, and how extensively...it's sort of like asking 'how long is a piece of string?'

Personally, I think the brain is magical and can often find other ways to function. When Deion was six days old the doctors told us he would never smile, never sit up, never speak...I'm off for a refund now...because I can't get this child to shut up for five minutes!!!

Keira Knightley has become the center of attention in this new domestic violence advertisement, it is causing quite a stir it seems. It's directed by Joe Wright who recently won a BAFTA. It's good, one more thing that people are frightened to speak about is in the spotlight.

It's a shame it has gone this long for the media to take an aggressive stand point. of course Chris Brown brought things into the forefront recently too...how kind of him!!! Thankfully people are now opening their eyes. I think previous commercials are so meek and mild as opposed to now, thank God reality is setting in!

Feelings are mixed, someone I know called me on my usual reaction to violence. But you cannot liken this advert to the gratuitous violence I oppose... this is where it is okay to show some violence...because it is a reality for thousands of people. Others are being critical saying people only care because its Keira Knightly...it doesn't matter who she is, yes, she may be famous, but she is using that to get a message out there...good for her. Whatever works.

I hope it will make people take more notice, in Britain, people seem so concerned with keeping themselves to themselves as a whole, they don't intervene when they know they should...

This is TOO funny not to share, some of you may have seen it before, I saw it for the first time today, and LMAO!!! A must watch for every mum...actually...show it to the kids too!


William Tell Overture for Moms @ Yahoo! Video

We love Lewis Hamilton in this house. My husband followed the first documentaries from when he was just 10 years old, he is a kid that walked up to the head of McLaren and told him he'd drive for him one day, and he did, he achieved this amazing goal.

This is a story of a little boy working relentlessly to make his dreams come true...even if you are not a fan, you can't deny the determination that seems to be so lacking in a huge majority of youth today.

Deion loves him too, he came home one day saying "mummy, did you know Lewis Hamilton's brother has Terrible Palsy just like me?" and when you hear Lewis talking about his brother, attributing a large part of his success to him, it is nothing less than heartwarming.

Surely no one can deny that he is not treated fairly...my daughter joked about the FIA preferring red cars...but it seems that Lewis Hamilton is up against it and treated far less favourably than the other drivers. What motivates people to turn against him - is it about money or is it about racism? They should leave him alone and feel proud of him. Can we not treat him as a role model for young people? which no one can deny, is deseprately needed.

Follow this link to see this story and others on Lewis Hamilton.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Lewis-Hamilton-Australian-Grand-Prix-Cancellation-McLaren-World-Champion-Formula-One-Driver-Speaks/Article/200904115255119?lpos=World_News_First_Home_Article_Teaser_Region_5&lid=ARTICLE_15255119_Lewis_Hamilton_Australian_Grand_Prix_Cancellation%3A_McLaren_World_Champion_Formula_One_Driver_Speaks

I'm going to have a boast here about my children.

Jordan and Robyn started going to Karate about six years ago now, they are very committed, and have been black belts for almost a year. I used to worry...especially when Jordan would come home and tell me he'd sparred with an adult...a full grown man twice his size....

'why?' I used to ask him in a worried tone...'well he's the only other brown belt mum,' was the confused answer.

We agreed to them going to full contact karate because they wanted to, I never got the other kind anyway...what do you do... pretend to do the moves, enact a throw???..but for me, there is a big self defense element to it too.

Even though Robyn looks dainty, I didn't worry about her so much, she has more of a forceful streak, she takes no rubbish, and no one messes with her. Jordan is just less...assertive...shall we say.

So one day I went to pick them up, just as the last part of the lesson was underway (the sparring part) I saw Jordan's sparring partner...all six foot two of him!!! oh dear...but then I realised that it was the guy who looked a little worried...and I realised why as soon as I heard what can only be described as a war cry from Jordan and he came running across the room (DO JO?)did a spinning split kick, grabbed on round the guys neck with his legs and took him to the floor in one swift movement...okay, so maybe I underestimated him a little.

Here's a Little video of my ninja warrior performing one of his latest tricks...

This is too funny, saw it for the first time the other day, I'm definitely trying it!!!!

One of my son’s fiends was round the other day, and he was telling us about the latest ‘Saw’ film he’d seen…number five I think, I felt sick just listening to it and told him to stop….

Am I the only one that is fed up of every other film being some gore filled horror?….these films do well because of shock tactics, I get it, but rather than congratulate, what can only be a very sick mind, for thinking this stuff up, should we be putting them in therapy.

And am I imagining it, or are the age limits for this blood fuelled violence getting lower…I’ve watched films with a 12 rating and been shocked. And I don’t let the kids watch 18 movies, I don’t let them watch the saw films, or Sin City, or 300, because it is mindless violence in my opinion. If a film requires bloodshed for the story, as much as I don’t relish it, it is different, ‘Saving Private Ryan’ for example had bloodshed, and I couldn’t stomach it personally, but it was telling a historical part of history…

But even Deion’s friends...eleven year olds…seem to have seen some pretty violent stuff.

I know I watched the odd horror film when I was in my late teens, on sleepovers, huddled under the duvet, but horror films were very different then. Film makers used to rely on making you jump, now they seem to want to out do each other with blood, gore, torture and the most gruesome abuse.

Perhaps I am being naive… but should we not be concerned that our teens seem to be relishing these violent torture scenes in films?

Perhaps its not the kids being left home alone we need to worry about...

Can someone explain to me how this happens please….

There are five people living in this house, but surely it would take at least ten people to create this much ironing in the space of three days….I strongly suspect my children (especially my daughter) try on several outfits, leaving the discarded choices on the bedroom floor, when asked to tidy, they then place all items from floor, including clean, into laundry…its the only explanation.

Even more confusing, yesterday laundry baskets all completely empty, now today are overflowing, could not possible have worn ten outfits each overnight…

Perhaps it would not be so bad if my children (and by that I mean my husband too) think that the clothes didn’t magically appear in their closets all ironed and folded, maybe they think elves come in while we sleep and see to the piles of clothes left in heaps on the floor.

I'm sick of hearing "where's my pink jeans/blue shirt/black t-shirt e.t.c......?"

I'm sick of answering "where did you leave it?"

I'm sick of hearing "Dunno."

How can they not know....they leave it in the same place every time...THE BEDROOM FLOOR!!!

Deion can go to the secondary school of his choice….yay! Suddenly all the phone calls, letters, care plans, arguing, demanding is all worth it.

The school is being adapted so that he will have suitable toileting facilities; it is all agreed, we are ecstatic. It probably seems silly to get so excited over something Deion should be entitled to anyway…but we all know being entitled to something does not guarantee it, doesn’t even make it likely….not here!

Of course not everyone is happy, I am being blamed for other projects in the borough getting shelved…all because I wouldn’t back down…you see I’m evil like that, fancy demanding a toilet for my son…oh no!!!


I am being blamed for a large part of the budget going on this toilet…but you know what, I don’t really care, its to like I’m only doing this for Deion, now many children with disabilities and/or incontinence issues will be able to attend this mainstream school, have more choice, more freedom and more dignity…

Education should have got it right the first time round, should have taken the right advice form the right people…then it wouldn’t have been a big fight or money from the precious budget.

All I know is we are happy because Deion is happy…now there is just transport issues….matrix funding and key workers to sort out… ding ding…round six!

I know I have spoken about this lady before, but it is still getting quite a bit of coverage, people are still talking about her, and I am shocked at the amount of parents who think her disability will scare their children...openly admitting ignorance if you ask me...

On Cbeebies there is a new presenter, she’s a pretty girl, bubbly, good at her job, but dare I say it…she has a disability, she only has one hand. I have to say, I didn’t even notice at first, and I expect most kids didn’t…but parents actually started making complaints, hundreds of them flooded in apparently.

What a joke!

Some insensitive 'idiot' (for want of a better word) actually said… "Is it just me, or does anyone else think the new woman presenter on Cbeebies (Cerrie Burnell) may scare the kids because of her disability?

"I didn't want to let my children watch the filler bits on the bedtime hour last night because I know it would have played on my eldest daughter's mind and possibly caused sleep problems... and yes, this is a serious post."

Amazing! and sadly..no, it wasn't just him!

I truly cannot believe that so many people would discriminate so freely, perhaps if he was more sensitive, his kids would be too. Kids really don’t care about disabilities, until they are taught to do so, they may be curious, which is natural, but scared…I doubt it very much???

Other people accused the BBC of employing her to score points, actually accused the BBC of positive discrimination can someone explain this term to me please?

Cerrie Burnell rose above it, and even though she was said to be disappointed by the criticism she still welcomed the discussion…

"It can only be a good thing that parents are using me as a chance to talk disability with their children," she said. "It just goes to show how important it is to have positive disabled role models on CBeebies and television in general."

Good for her.

This young lady has a child herself, is her child going to grow up frightened…NO! Because her child will be brought up in a household where differences make no difference to what a person can achieve.

Here, see her for yourself, and you tell me...is she scary? intimidating???

Now, as you all know, one of my children is merely posing as a normal schoolboy to protect his superhero identity...Yellow lightning...

Deion had such a good day at school dressing up for red nose day, he loved the photos....so our very own computer expert, Trojan (Trojans Corner) worked his magic, and did this for Deion.

This has made Deions year, it is brilliant, he was so excited when he saw it, it bought tears to my eyes.

Thanks Trojan, you've made one superhero a very happy boy xxxxxxx

A good friend of mine sent me this, the kids and I were messing around with it for ages, it really is food for thought!

CO2 emissions, birth & death rates by country, simulated real-time

It certainly makes you think!

Do you look back and think about your pre child life?

I don’t ever remember a time when I wasn’t a mum, I know I had a whole life before, and I know it was full with family and work and socialising. But I can’t imagine what filled my heart and my time to the capacity that being a parent does.

So many times my mum used to say to me ‘when you’re a mum you’ll understand’ and I do. And I can’t remember myself before.

I can’t imagine waking up and my first thought being me, I can’t imagine going to bed without the kids to kiss goodnight.

Its incredible, and I often wonder who I was back then.

As Ben Franklin said: In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria.

In a number of carefully controlled trials, scientists have demonstrated
That if we drink 1 liter of water each day, at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than 1 kilo of Escherichia coli, (E. Coli) - bacteria found in feces. In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of poop!

However, we do NOT run that risk when drinking wine & beer (or tequila, rum, whiskey or other liquor) because alcohol has to go through a purification process of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting.

Remember: Water = Poop, Wine = Health.

Therefore, it's better to drink wine and talk stupid,than to drink water and be full of shit...

TO ALL MY FRIENDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1940's, 1950's, 60's and 70's !

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos .

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products, loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds , KFC, Subway or Nandos.

Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on the weekends, somehow we didn't starve to death!

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy Toffees, Gobstoppers, Bubble Gum and bangers.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because......

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of old prams and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and dens and played in river beds with matchbox cars.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo Wii , X-boxes, no video games at all, no 999 channels on SKY , no video/dvd films, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
Lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time...

We were given catapults for our 10th birthdays,

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet!

RUGBY and CRICKET had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! Getting into the team was based on MERIT.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and 'Blade' and 'Ridge' and 'Vanilla'

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL !

My daughter came home from school today telling me how a boy had come to her school and threatened a girl with a knife…

Was the world such a violent place when we were growing up, or where we just shielded from it, was there just less media courage?

All I know is that when I was younger my parents felt safe when we left the house. But for me, now, it’s getting to the point where I’m frightened to let the kids go to school, every time we turn on the TV or open a newspaper, another teenager has been shot or stabbed. And it seems to be getting closer to home.

Should I really have to say to my fifteen year old, “if someone threatens you for you phone or money…give it to them, don’t fight back.” After all, phones are replaceable, my kids aren’t, but kids are getting stabbed at an alarming rate for mobile phones, i-pods, or anything come to that.

I’m sick of opening the paper to headlines about knife culture, gun culture, gang culture. Gangs are on the rise, and apparently it seems to depend largely on you school and postcode…quite frankly I’m terrified. I ask Jordan and Robyn what they see or hear about, and they seem quite matter of fact about knowing it goes on. They tell stories about one gang member turning up at school to fight another every now and then and it terrifies me.

I know there were fights when I was at school, but never more than fists…or a bit of bitch slapping or hair pulling if you were lucky!

When I pick the kids up from school, there are always police around, dozens of them, they want to put metal detectors in schools to stop kids carrying weapons…it was never like this when I was young, I don’t know a single person that carried a knife. And these are the GOOD schools!

What frightened me a few weeks ago was, as part of the crack down on knife crime, the police stopped a bus in the morning, it had nothing but school kids on it, the police searched and they found no less than 23 weapons…23 weapons amongst a bus full of 12 to 15 year olds.

What are we supposed to do, wrap our kids up in cotton wool, keep them home, tell them to run, what about Deion, he can’t run, there’s a big increase in disabled people getting mugged and robbed too, its a bloody mine field…

And opening the paper to this…is why…

29th December 2008 - New Knife Crime Statistics
The new figures indicate that in the year 2007-8 there were some 277 deaths from stabbings in England & Wales alone (the highest recorded figure for 30 years). This represents an average death toll as a direct result of stabbings of over 5 for every week of the year!

Was it always this unsafe? Do you remember anyone you know getting stabbed?…every kid I know, knows someone that has either been stabbed or been affected by it…love to know if it’s the same for you and your kids!

My good friend Trojan (Trojan's Corner) sent me this, knowing I would love it...if you are a woman, it will make you laugh, if you are a man...very useful information to follow!!!!

Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.

Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing.)

That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a woman can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or faint. Just say you're welcome.(I want to add in a clause here - This is true, unless she says 'Thanks a lot' - that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say 'you're welcome’. That will bring on a 'whatever').

Whatever: Is a woman's way of saying F-- YOU!

Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response refer to # 3.