PARENTS: Better Safe Than Sorry, DO YOUR HOME WORK!

EVERYDAY I pick up the news paper. EVERYDAY-give or take one or two a week there is someone in the paper for Child Molestation!!! As a mother, a Christian, and a HUMAN BEING, I can't imagine what, why or how someone could take the innocence of our children and not see anything wrong with it. It is amazing. The people I know-(I know a lot of people), are always bringing this subject up as well. I was reading up on it, to try to understand it and although I CAN'T grasp it, I did learn a bunch. I found out that a child molester is most likely someone who knows our kids. A family member, a neighbor, and often at one point even our priests.
Although we can not stop it from happening, we can lessen the chances of it happening. If it did happen we can stop it from continuing.

1.  Do your homework. There are 47 sexually violent predators and a total of 53 people on Megan's law within a 25 mile radius from my home. I showed my daughter photos of the ones who lived within 2-3 miles, and explained if she sees them not to talk to them. I KNOW people change. But, these are our kids. I'm not taking any chances.
2. Do your homework. If your child shows the warning signs as listed below, talk to your child. You can easily say, "You are not in trouble, and have done nothing wrong. Did somebody touch you in your private areas in a way they shouldn't."
3. Do your homework. Check Megan's Law to keep you and your children aware of anyone who has harmed children in the past. They show photographs of the predator every six months at least.
4. Do your homework. Look for warning signs.

•  Extreme fear of someone shown by your child. Your child may not know that something wrong has happened, but they may lose interest in being around the predator, or show anxiety when they are mentioned.They may even break down emotionally or throw an unusual fit when they know they will be around the predator.
• Loss of interest in playing with friends, and doing activities that they normally love to do. They may even lose interest in school, refusing to attend.
• Shame: a child could suddenly become over obsessed with their body in either negative or positive ways. Normally, it's negative. They may even state that their body is hurt, bad, or not good anymore. 
• Unfortunately a child who has been hurt in this way is exposed to sex before they should be. So of course, they may talk about it, when you as the parent may not have brought it up yet. The child may even introduce sex into play with dolls, figurines, or even friends.
• Behavior changes. Since children have trouble expressing how they feel, they may channel their anger or hurt into acting out. They may end up with a behavior issue, where as before they didn't have one. They may even channel this anger towards other people, even those they love most because they aren't sure how else to say they are hurting, angry, mad, confused, or any emotion for that matter.
• PHYSICAL CLUES: Don't make a huge issue of it at first, because these signs don't mean your child has been hurt FOR SURE in this manner. Do a physical examination. Watch your child. Does it hurt when they sit down, are they having trouble pooping or peeing, wetting the bed unusually, swelling and or bruises in the vaginal area, redness or blood.
• Loss of sleep: Child wakes more than normal, is suddenly afraid of the dark or has more nightmares than usual. Your child may ask for a light when they did sleep in the dark.

I was astounded at the amount of people in my hometown-small home town who are child predators. you can check your hometown, or a specific person by clicking on this  link:
Megan's Law Registry for The United States of America 
So parents, do your homework and don't be afraid to discuss this with children. Child abuse is on the rise. If your child, your child's friend or someone you know is being harmed, or you have a suspicion that someone is hurting a child, sexual, physical, mentally, or emotionally, don't let it continue. YOU alone make a difference. Call the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A CHILD (1-800-422-4453) where there are counselors available 24/7/365. Or click this link, and once you are there click on the purple tab that says "GET HELP" for more information on this service. Here's the link: Find resources, information, statistics, stories, or get involved by helping, even if you don't know anyone who's been harmed.
I hope you found help, or will now use this knowledge, as I will to help children in the future or present.

xoxoxox
Megs

10 Tips for Praying as a Couple, Christian Engagement, Newlywed Couples

10 Tips for Praying as a Couple, Christian Engagement, Newlywed Couples

I FOUND THIS SITE TODAY. IT HAS EVERYTHING I NEEDED TO HEAR, AND I GOT SOME ADVICE ON MAKING A STRONGER MARRIAGE. I WILL SAY CHRIS AND I DO PRAY TOGETHER. THE FAMILY THAT PRAYS TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER. IT IS COMFORTING KNOWING THAT I HAVE A HUSBAND THAT IS WILLING TO PRAY FOR ME INSTEAD OF POINT A FINGER AT ME. ITS COMFORTING WHEN WE TAKE TURNS PRAYING TOGETHER AND WE TAKE THE WORDS OUT OF EACH OTHERS MOUTH OR WE ARE ABLE TO SEE HOW EACH OTHER ARE GROWING IN CHRIST. p.s. this pic is not of Chris and I. It's from the website.

5 fun ways to show love to your spouse

5 fun ways to show love to your spouse
I FOUND THIS WEBSITE HELPFUL. IT'S GREAT WAY TO WORK ON A ROCKY RELATIONSHIP OR TO KEEP A GREAT ONE GOING. CHECK IT OUT.  BELOW IS MY HUNNIE AND I WHEN WE FIRST GOT ENGAGED AND WE DO MOST OF THESE TIPS AND STILL HAVE A GREAT RELATIONSHIP. HOPE THEY HELP YOU
XOXO~
MEGS

The Honest Company KEEP KIDS SAFE & EARN $

The Honest Company 
This is a MOTHERS dream. The Honest Company is a Company which has many eco-safe, and affordable company which has made products for customers such as diapers, wipes, soaps, shampoos and cleaning items. They let you try it for FREE-your choice of products, either diaper essentials, cleaning essentials or health and wellness essentials just for becoming a member, and you can cancel at anytime.
SO not only will your family-babies, kids, pets-all be exposed to safe and unharmful affordable products but for each person YOU refer that becomes a member, you earn $20!!!
I'm saying....they care about the average American. It's not like big brand companies that just want the dollar (Johnson & Johnson's bed time bath was found to contain levels of THC and other harmful chemicals), but they make it safe. Click the above link to try it out.

My hero: Abe Lincoln, Leader, Hero, and Manic Depressive

I finally got THREE things I wanted. 1.) a night AND day alone with the Hubby Chris.~A.K.A. babysitters for the kids...OVERNIGHT and at the same time  2.) To lay back alone and watch a movie with Chris RELAXED without having to Pause it, stop it, or forget it due to interruptions that come with having a beautiful family and much 'needy' children. AND 3.) I got to do numbers one and two while completing number three. Watching the new release movie "Lincoln." 
I have always thought of Abe Lincoln of a GREAT role model, wonderful man, honest and caring Christian and great political leader. As a child in school, I would do reports on Abe when I was given the chance to pick a topic. Of course, in Elementary School, I was limited on my choice of books to gain information from. However, every report was different, each revealing more and I remember doing six reports all together-so with my memory there may have been more.
I always thought that Abe was awesome because he was able to stand up to so much controversy, and overcome the conflicts, hurdles and bumps in the road when it came to his idea of the ever famous, and then seemingly ludicrously impossible idea of signing the 13th Amendment.  Today, after watching the movie "Lincoln", I realized that even as a child I thought that to be a couragous task, but I didn't fully grasp all the negative feedback, put downs, all the trouble, the fighting for what he believed in, and even the lack of support from family, and even his best friend, Joshua Speed.
So, the movie focused on Abe's Presidency, what he did as a leader to unite the country, and what he did FOR THE PEOPLE. I must admit that I thought the movie would be good, but just a documentary and have little comical moments. However, anyone who knows about President Lincoln knows that he was known for telling stories and jokes, which sometimes caused him to gain some criticism throughout the term. As I was watching the movie tonight, I had wondered, WHY didn't I know he was this funny? Really? I always quote him. I always find awesome quotes about life, love, people and Christianity that are wise and so intelligent. I can't help but notice how his mind and my mind work alike. I figured it out. He and I suffer from the same ailment. 
Manic Depression. Also sometimes referred to as Bipolar disorder. I notice when growing up, I was under a load of stress. I always used comedy as a way to channel my energy when I was depressed and had to appear somewhere like work, school, and being a parent. Why? Because it got my mind off of  being depressed. I thought if I could focus on something else then I'd feel better and nobody would know what was wrong with me....because there was a time I didn't know nor did I want someone to tell me. But after watching the movie and with my ever wondering mind, I did do some research and found that there are many documented incidents of Abraham Lincoln's depression, as well as a book called "Abraham Lincoln's Melancholy" by Joshua Wolf Shenk. In a couple reports I read on this book I found that it focused on how Abe used his "comedy" to focus on what he needed to get done. He stated that telling his stories and jokes are what kept him going sometimes. It's as if being Manic and Bipolar at the same time, it's a feeling that is not fun when someone is forced to go from the "manic and exciting" end of the pole down to the "sad and depressed" end which happens unexpectedly and uncontrollably. This is why President Lincoln told stories and jokes when there was stress in the room, when times were hard. Just as a kid, I used my humor to get sent to the principal's office  or to miss too much work while isolating. We both used humor, he just had a better way with it that was more positive. He used his humor, and his ailment to help found our country again.
So, tell me. Why is Bipolar and Manic Depression now a means for someone to get put on disability? We now have medication to help, as well as doctors, counselors, psychiatrist, psychologists. Why now do we need to also become "disabled"? I see commercials with the "disability lawyers" who claim to get you disability...the money you 'deserve'...if you suffer from any of the following: Bipolar, anxiety, Manic Depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, ADD, ADHD, and the list goes on. In times of Mr. Lincoln these medicines, knowledge, and help from professionals were not available. Why do we NEED to get disability and stay in bed, stay at home wasting our God given talents?  Lincoln who faced going thru the Great Depression, the Civil War, not to mention he lost his only brother at a very young age, his mom, aunt, and uncle died due to disease. A few years later his sister died after giving birth while delivering a still born baby. He also lost his job, had his business collapse and was in debt for 17 years, he failed to be nominated for congress, senate and the vice presidency too! He also had the failure of rejected by two women. But, he didn't quit. He fought, became President of the then "ununited" States during the Civil War and had to unite millions of Americans while dealing with his own issues, taking care of a family, and running a country.I'm sure after all of these events he wasn't just depressed, rather would have had some Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as well.
So, instead of using his Manic Depression, and catastrophic events in life as an excuse to run, hide, give up, and lay around and wile in the mire, he stood tall, and used his Bipolar (which can cause creativity as the brain races during mania), to pull a country together and become one of the best loved, most heroic, brave, and UN disabled humans and Presidents of the United States of America.
I no longer feel I need to hide my Bipolar. No longer do I feel it's an ailment, rather something to make me stronger. I believe that in times of trial, confusion or hard times, if we dig deep enough for information, we can find someone, somewhere in history or present, that has our same issues. Seeing someone else completely overcome such set backs with such success is inspiring enough that I don't feel anything could hold me back from success. Who am I to complain? I have been able to be a successful parent, student, wife, daughter, and part time work at home mom. Now though, when I'm feeling melancholy, I know who to think of and that will help me make it through whatever I need to. Because the present is important. Hiding from my condition will not help me continue to raise a happy and successful family. Hiding and isolation are ways to miss memories. Never miss a minute because each minute lost is a memory not made. A wise Abe Lincoln once said, "See what is before you in the here and now, that's the only thing that counts."