Re: Er, did I put my great big dwarf foot in it?

[Guest guest]

Never mind, Fred, one of the 'senior' girls at 's school (age 10) was

dressed up like a wicked witch today and ran over to and said, " I'm

going to cast a spell on you to make you grow! " We chuckled at her good

intentions and then I said, " I doubt it will work, you know. "

She replied, " I'm not that bad! "

Take care,

Katy, down under

You know when you have said something, and then ages after, something hits

you like a brick, and you wonder, " Dam! Did I put my foot in it? "

Well, I was in a store we use a lot. Have done for years and years, and

sort of grew up (Ha!) with the shop assistant. So yer, we know one another

very well.

She was telling me she has just become a grandmother (hell, I'm the same

age

as she!). I congratulated her, and then she added (as all doting

grandmothers do), more details about her new grandchild, including it's

weight. " She was only 7 lb at birth, such a little thing. "

Without thinking, I just said, " Hey, she might be one of us! "

The poor " Newly become Grandmother " neither knew how to react, or what to

say!

Guess I said the wrong thing:-))))))

Fred, little dwarf with a big mouth!

[Guest guest]

From: Katy Sinclair <katy.sinclair@...>

> Never mind, Fred, one of the 'senior' girls at 's school (age 10) was

> dressed up like a wicked witch today and ran over to and said, " I'm

> going to cast a spell on you to make you grow! " We chuckled at her good

> intentions and then I said, " I doubt it will work, you know. "

> She replied, " I'm not that bad! "

Ah yes, but this opens up a totally different can of worms! Meaning, would

it have been a GOOD thing, or a BAD thing, if the spell had worked??????

Old topic, new angle, or spell:-)))))

If the wicked witch offered to cast such a spell, I wonder how many L.P's

would think it was wonderful and how many would dread it:-)

Fred, pondering on the impossible.

[Guest guest]

Makes me think of picking up my daughter from school last week. She was

soaked and the teacher was very apopogetic. Seems with the nice weather the

kids were playing in the " water table " area. The teacher turned to take a

little boy to the bathroom and when she turned back several of the other

kids had upturned the watering cans over Mira's head. When asked for an

explanation, the kids explained they were just trying to help Mira so she

could do the slide and monkey bars with them. " It was Cady's idea. She said

plants grow when you water them and maybe it would work for Mira too!! "

Kids..gotta love 'em!!

Gigi

_________________________________________________________________________

Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at

http://profiles.msn.com.

[Guest guest]

>If the wicked witch offered to cast such a spell, I wonder how many L.P's

>would think it was wonderful and how many would dread it:-)

My foot was amputated in 1981. A few years back, I was watching " Star Trek:

Next Generation " with a friend of mine, and it was the episode where Q gives

Picard a chance to go back in time and avoid having to get an artificial

heart. Somehow this led to a conversation about my leg and my friend asked

if somewhere down the road they might be able to construct another leg for

me, so that I wouldn't need a prosthesis.

Then she asked if I would take advantage of it. I told her no, because I'd

have to learn to walk all over again.

_________________________________________________________________________

Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at

http://profiles.msn.com.

[Guest guest]

Vita,

This is the same Cady that gave an adult a set down at the slide in Mira's

defense.. I posted about that in Parents of LP club... A lady was quite rude

at the slide in the Park talking about how parents shouldn't let their

toddlers play on the big slide alone, especially when there's obviously some

thing wrong with them.. Mira and Cady came down the slide and Cady marched

over to the lady, told her Mira was 5, in her class at school , and her

bestest friend. She went on to say, and I quote, " There's nothing the matter

with her, what's the matter with you?? Haven't you ever seen an acorn

plastic dwarf before? " The girls then went off to play. I truly believe the

earlier incident with the water was innocent.. Cady and her mom both have

been very nice whenever I see them and for the record, Mira is quite bossy

and tends to dominate things herself sssssoooooo.. Also, the water incident

occurred prior to the talk about in Mira's class when they saw the video

about " What Kids Want to Know About Little People " and read the " Thinking

Big " book. Anyway, hope you have a great day!! Gigi

----Original Message Follows----

From: Vita Gagne <rgagne@...>

" Gigi Bettendorf " <gibett@...>

Subject: Re: Er, did I put my great big dwarf foot in it?

Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2000 08:20:29 -0400

Gigi,

You are way too nice! My take on this stunt pulled by those two classmates

of Mira's was that good old Cady was slyly trying to dominate both the

other girl and Mira. I hope the teacher called this Cady child out on her

behavior, as in " I know what you're _really_ doing, Cady, so knock it off! "

I'd ask the teacher to keep an eye on this Cady child for awhile.

Again, this is one of those instances that really has nothing to do

personally with Mira being an LP. Mira's size just made a good excuse for

this Cady character to stress her own dominance. BUT...you don't want this

Cady to make a habit of it either, which is why I suggest that the teacher

keep tabs on her behavior towards Mira and others.

Vita

At 01:40 PM 9/13/00 CDT, you wrote:

>

>Makes me think of picking up my daughter from school last week. She was

>soaked and the teacher was very apopogetic. Seems with the nice weather

the

>kids were playing in the " water table " area. The teacher turned to take a

>little boy to the bathroom and when she turned back several of the other

>kids had upturned the watering cans over Mira's head. When asked for an

>explanation, the kids explained they were just trying to help Mira so she

>could do the slide and monkey bars with them. " It was Cady's idea. She

said

>plants grow when you water them and maybe it would work for Mira too!! "

>Kids..gotta love 'em!!

>Gigi

Vita Gagne

rgagne@...

_________________________________________________________________________

Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at

http://profiles.msn.com.

[Guest guest]

After I read your other message describing Cady's support of Mira, I had to

rethink my orginal impression and I admit I was wrong about this child.

Cady is obviously learning about the differences in all of us, and while

the watering can thing was a misstep, it occurred before Cady learned more

about how okay it is to be an LP -- Cady now sounds like she'll be a good

friend to Mira. Also glad to hear that Mira is a self-confident type

because an LP with a strong personality will have fewer problems in life.

Maybe I should retitle the subject line " my great big average-sized foot " ,

huh?! )

Vita

At 07:24 PM 9/14/00 CDT, you wrote:

>

>Vita,

>This is the same Cady that gave an adult a set down at the slide in Mira's

>defense.. I posted about that in Parents of LP club... A lady was quite rude

>at the slide in the Park talking about how parents shouldn't let their

>toddlers play on the big slide alone, especially when there's obviously some

>thing wrong with them.. Mira and Cady came down the slide and Cady marched

>over to the lady, told her Mira was 5, in her class at school , and her

>bestest friend. She went on to say, and I quote, " There's nothing the matter

>with her, what's the matter with you?? Haven't you ever seen an acorn

>plastic dwarf before? " The girls then went off to play. I truly believe the

>earlier incident with the water was innocent.. Cady and her mom both have

>been very nice whenever I see them and for the record, Mira is quite bossy

>and tends to dominate things herself sssssoooooo.. Also, the water incident

>occurred prior to the talk about in Mira's class when they saw the video

>about " What Kids Want to Know About Little People " and read the " Thinking

>Big " book. Anyway, hope you have a great day!! Gigi

>

>----Original Message Follows----

>From: Vita Gagne <rgagne@...>

> " Gigi Bettendorf " <gibett@...>

>Subject: Re: Er, did I put my great big dwarf foot in it?

>Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2000 08:20:29 -0400

>

>Gigi,

>

>You are way too nice! My take on this stunt pulled by those two classmates

>of Mira's was that good old Cady was slyly trying to dominate both the

>other girl and Mira. I hope the teacher called this Cady child out on her

>behavior, as in " I know what you're _really_ doing, Cady, so knock it off! "

> I'd ask the teacher to keep an eye on this Cady child for awhile.

>

>Again, this is one of those instances that really has nothing to do

>personally with Mira being an LP. Mira's size just made a good excuse for

>this Cady character to stress her own dominance. BUT...you don't want this

>Cady to make a habit of it either, which is why I suggest that the teacher

>keep tabs on her behavior towards Mira and others.

>

>Vita

>

>

>

>At 01:40 PM 9/13/00 CDT, you wrote:

> >

> >Makes me think of picking up my daughter from school last week. She was

> >soaked and the teacher was very apopogetic. Seems with the nice weather

>the

> >kids were playing in the " water table " area. The teacher turned to take a

> >little boy to the bathroom and when she turned back several of the other

> >kids had upturned the watering cans over Mira's head. When asked for an

> >explanation, the kids explained they were just trying to help Mira so she

> >could do the slide and monkey bars with them. " It was Cady's idea. She

>said

> >plants grow when you water them and maybe it would work for Mira too!! "

> >Kids..gotta love 'em!!

> >Gigi

>

>Vita Gagne

>rgagne@...

>

Vita Gagne

rgagne@...

[Guest guest]

It is seldom I post " yeah, I agree with that " kind of

thing, but I think Vita has made a very good point.

The water incident could have been innocent, for some,

but I have the same gut feeling that Vita does.

We own a company that works with and for people with

disABILITIES. Over the many years,, and up to today,

is the typical, " I'm going to pick on you " type of

attitude. To me, (my humble opinion-hehe) these type

of 'accidents' tend to come from something brewing

underneath that innocent mind. Perhaps it 'was'

innocent, but if it is pushed to the side, I would not

be a bit surprised that it will continue to happen.

All of those children in the school room were given an

example that particular day. It could have been an

'accident' and cute, but in the long run, what will

happen with Mira later on?

Sadly, and statistically (I taught school for several

years), there will probably come a time one or more of

those children will see that Mira was a bit wet from

what had hopefully seemed like an innocent gesture.

That old " hey, she can take it, " will suddenly pop

into someone's memory banks that Mira took it before,

so why not now; and could be years after the water

table incident.

Little darlings at that age are sweet and innocent, but

sometimes, just sometimes, a single move from one child

can, and usually will, lead to more.

Suggestion? I think, again my humble opinion, is to be

very careful with the word " Special, anytime referring

to a child. By personal experience and through the

years with our company, it is damaging as a " Label "

itself. Many teachers and parents, including myself,

have learned the hard way what that word can do to a

child.

Encourage Mira what a wonderful girl she really is, and

when she has her friends around, also encourage them by

sharing how great they are as well. An invisible " I AM

IMPORTANT " sign is something every single person

carries in front of them, but some tend to forget to

polish it sometimes.

Warmly, Debi Hoggan

http://www.geocities.com/hogganclan/

***********************************

You cannot cut down seeds,

to build houses.

***********************************

Re: Er, did I put my great big

dwarf foot in it?

> Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2000 08:20:29 -0400

>

> Gigi,

>

> You are way too nice! My take on this stunt pulled

by those two classmates

> of Mira's was that good old Cady was slyly trying to

dominate both the

> other girl and Mira. I hope the teacher called this

Cady child out on her

> behavior, as in " I know what you're _really_ doing,

Cady, so knock it off! "

> I'd ask the teacher to keep an eye on this Cady

child for awhile.

>

> Again, this is one of those instances that really has

nothing to do

> personally with Mira being an LP. Mira's size just

made a good excuse for

> this Cady character to stress her own dominance.

BUT...you don't want this

> Cady to make a habit of it either, which is why I

suggest that the teacher

> keep tabs on her behavior towards Mira and others.

>

> Vita

>

>

>

> At 01:40 PM 9/13/00 CDT, you wrote:

> >

> >Makes me think of picking up my daughter from school

last week. She was

> >soaked and the teacher was very apopogetic. Seems

with the nice weather

> the

> >kids were playing in the " water table " area. The

teacher turned to take a

> >little boy to the bathroom and when she turned back

several of the other

> >kids had upturned the watering cans over Mira's

head. When asked for an

> >explanation, the kids explained they were just

trying to help Mira so she

> >could do the slide and monkey bars with them. " It

was Cady's idea. She

> said

> >plants grow when you water them and maybe it would

work for Mira too!! "

> >Kids..gotta love 'em!!

> >Gigi

>

> Vita Gagne

> rgagne@...

>

>

_______________________________________________________

__________________

> Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at

http://www.hotmail.com.

>

> Share information about yourself, create your own

public profile at

> http://profiles.msn.com.

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Debi, Vita, And Rose,

The 3 of you have all given a somewhat different take on what I saw as an

innocent school kid thing.. The girls are 5 years old and in kindergarden

and I think to assign any devious or mean spirit to the incident is

over-reacting.. They all play well together and seem to be figuring it out

for themselves. These kids are just in the early stages of learning about

differences and how to accept one another as they are. They are taking their

clue from us adults and sometimes I don't think we do a very good job.

I am glad to hear that someone besides myself got a giggle out of Cady's

attempt to name Mira's condition. I know it took me a few practices before I

could get my tongue around it!! Mira is a tough little cookie having

survived 4 1/2 years in an orphanage where survival is no sure thing.

Despite all my " mommy worries " I'm positive she'll be fine!!

Thanks for giving me another point of view and something to ponder... Gigi

_________________________________________________________________________

Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at

http://profiles.msn.com.