I’m sure most of you read my dear friend’s blog, Roc Rebel Granny. Ann is an absolutely amazing woman. She is raising her great-grandkids in a sort of relative foster care placement.

She’s witty, she’s smart, she’s got a big heart, and hey…she’s a great grandma who has a blog and participates in the online world. I hope I’m half the woman she is when I’m a great-grandma.

And she needs our help.

Ann’s daughter, Carol, passed away on May 3rd. Ann and her family had never thought about having money to pay for Carol’s final arrangements until she was already sick and then it was too late.

Not only is Ann having to deal with the loss of her daughter, while caring for her three great grandchildren, but she is having to worry about the fact that she doesn’t have enough money to pay for Carol’s funeral expenses.

No mother should have to plan a funeral for their child, and they certainly shouldn’t have to go through the additional stress of worrying about how they will pay for the service.

Ann is a proud woman, and doesn’t want to ask for help. I’ve asked her for permission to post about this here. I reminded her how people helped me when I needed help and I wanted to return the favor.

Because Ann doesn’t have paypal and she is too overwhelmed to figure it out, I will be collecting donations for her and then sending the money to her via a check.

Will you please consider helping my friend? You can click on the button that says “Make a Donation” over on the right. to donate via paypal. Thank you so much.

I adore you, Ann, and I hope this helps. Best wishes to you and your family.

The fabulous Shannon over at Peter’s Cross Station is trying to raise some emergency gas money. She is friends with a woman who needs to rent a car and have gas money in order to escape from an abuser.

Please help by purchasing some of Shannon’s beautiful jewelry. I’ll be sporting some of her pieces real soon.

Thanks!!

The second part of Bug’s behavior chart is called “I caught myself being good.”

When Bug is asked to do something and she does it without arguing/tantruming/talking back, she is supposed to announce, “I caught myself being good.” Each time she does, she gets to put a sticker on her chart. When she gets 15 stickers, she gets a special treat. It only counts when Bug notices her good behavior and announces that she is being good.

This works very well. First, it encourages Bug to take responsibility for her own behavior. To notice times where she is making good choices/bad choices. It also works to stop the back talk, simply because she is too busy saying that she was caught being good to argue with me over whether she should need to pick up her shoes. It also encourages her to gain attention for positive behaviors, not negative.

Bug also is motivated by the stickers. We have a giant sticker box and we use cool stickers for this part of the chart. Last night she got this big Bambi sticker and was excited.

The two parts of the chart complement each other as the more she catches herself being good, the more she thinks about the consequences of her actions. It also helps her express her emotions in the correct way.

The only thing is that she sometimes forgets to do it. She is easily reminded though because Geo will start doing it himself. “Hey, Geo, can you hand me a Pepsi?” “Sure, hon..I AM BEING GOOD! GOOD BEHAVIOR.” Then Bug usually will try to find her own instances of good behavior.

It is much more effective than when I try to find instances of her being good. And helps a lot with the talking back.

*********

Bug’s St. Jude Progress:

Fundraising Totals:

Total Gifts: 8
Dollars Raised: $195.00
Total On-line Gifts: 3
Total On-line Dollars: $75.00
Total Off-line Gifts: 5
Total Off-line Dollars: $120.00
It is not too late if you want to donate. Just send me an email or leave a comment if you are interested.

Technorati Tags: behavior, behavior charts, St Jude, mathathon, parenting 

Hi everyone this is Bug. I want you to know I finished all of my 300 probulems. If you can give me your donations as soon as possable that would be great. Your donation will help St Judes alot. Thank you for helping! BY BUG

Bug finished all of the problems..225 regular problems and got 75 bonus problem points for a total of 300 problem points.

They need to have the donations in as soon as possible. If you made a pledge, you can send your donation to my paypal address. If you don’t have my paypal address, let me know and I’ll send it to you.

If you didn’t make a pledge, it is not too late. You can still make a donation. Just let me know if you are interested.

Total amount Bug has collected so far: $70

Way to go Bug!

Technorati Tags: St. Jude’s, mathathon

 

 

First off, thank you to those who left kind comments to me yesterday regarding the diagnosis and those who emailed me privately. I get caught up in reading without commenting myself…I just read through my google reader and never bother to click over. But your comments and emails mean a lot to me and I truly do appreciate it. Hell, I appreciate the fact that you actually take time out of your day to read this blog in the first place. Means a lot.

Second…I need a good chili recipe. Nothing too spicy, but yummy. And it would be best if I could make it in the crockpot, but not necessary.

Third…If you haven’t made a donation to Bug’s St. Jude fundraiser and would like to, please let me know. Bug read all your comments and is very excited about doing the math problems. It is a great cause. Plus, Bug has to do 250 math problems. At home. That will take her a looonggg time.

Think of me please? All that uninterrupted blog reading time….plus all that time where Bug will have something to do and will not say, “Mommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmy I am boorrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeed.” Peace and Quiet in the BDH. Please? I thank you in advance.

Fourth, do you know a side effect of Adderall is excessive sweating? No wonder Bug always smells like she just ran a marathon. If you have a girl going through puberty that takes Adderall, then let her know to double up on the deodorant.

Fifth, are there any foster parents or people who have adopted from foster care that would want to work on a foster care adoption blog with me? I know a lot of us have blogs that detail our day to day lives dealing with foster care, but I want people to share tips, advice, what a homestudy is like, what going to a staffing or committee is like, etc. so that people who are in the process or who are considering adopting from foster care or becoming a foster parent can learn more about it from people who have been there. I know that our blogs help give an idea what it is like to raise a child from foster care, but they don’t often let people know how long it takes for a homestudy or whether you need a fire extinguisher in your home. If you’d be interested in writing or even offering one post, let me know.

Sixth, please stay tuned for posts such as:

“Guess what? I’m not a big fat failure!”

“Why forging a check is wrong”

“Bug’s behavior modification plan”

a new book review and my continued quest to bring more kids to the BDH.

And really. Thank you for reading. Thank you for caring enough about me and Bug to make us part of your day.

Technorati Tags: blogs, chili, mathathon, foster care, adderall

Hi, this is Bug,

My school is colleting money for St Jude Childrens Research hospital. St Jude is a a hospital that kids go to if they have cancer or anything else. The doctors study these sickness and try to find a way to prevent it. St. Jude has made a Big improvement 3 years ago 4% kids made it but that did not stop the doctors they soon studie really hard now 90% make it. So I was wondering if you can donate some money and help me raise money. How I am raising money is By a mathathon. I do math problems and if I get 1 right you can give me money or just make a donation. If I raise the most money in 5th grade I get to go to St. Jude hospitle to help bring the money and get 1 day off of school to visit St. Jude. When I get the day off school I get to help them research and visit some of the kids. So I wondering if you could please make some donations.

BY BUG

(Baggage here: Bug will be given approximately 250 math problems. You can sponsor her by pledging to give a monetary amount per math problem. For instance, you could donate 5 cents per math problem she completes. You could also give a flat donation if you prefer. The money is tax deductible. If you are interested in sponsoring Bug, please leave a comment with your name and pledge amount (or you can email it to me at [email protected] if you prefer..although you do not have to give your real name..just make it school aged appropriate if you give a fake name). I will let you know how many problems Bug does in a future post. The easiest way to make a donation is to send me the money via Paypal or Moneybookers and I will write one check for the full amount of donations. If you don’t have Paypal, we can work something out so you could send me a check or money order, but Paypal would be easiest,

So to summarize….

You can help out Bug and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital by either:

1. Sponsoring her by giving a donation per math problem (out of 250) that she completes

or

2. Giving a flat donation by sending the money amount to my paypal address which I will provide you. (Or via check or money order if we have to)

Either way, send me an email or post a comment here if you are interested. Thank you very much!

About St. Jude:

Since its inception, St. Jude has developed protocols that have brought survival rates for childhood cancers from less than 20 percent to more than 70 percent overall.

Since opening in 1962, St. Jude has treated children from all 50 states and more than 70 foreign countries.

St. Jude researchers and doctors are treating children with genetic immune defects and pediatric AIDS, as well as using new drugs and therapies to fight infection.

St. Jude has approximately 4,700 patients in active status. St. Jude, which is non-sectarian, treats children without regard to race, religion, creed or ability to pay. St. Jude is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatments that are not covered by insurance, and families without insurance are never asked to pay.

To learn more about St. Jude please visit www.stjude.org.

Technorati Tags: St. Jude, mathahon, fundraiser