Bubblews Happy Post: Kid Things

What I'd like to share today is the image that's taped to the wall above this computer. One of those stick-figure drawings children do. "I Love you mommy and Scamp" (the drawing makes it clear that Scamp is a dog's name). What would the world be to us if children were no more. But that image would not come through if I tried to post it, so here's my official protest photo, taken by me.

Anyway, this was meant to be today's Happy Post (credits to Bubblews' Theresa Wiza for this idea) but it's just not going that way. The post about the wildflowers will have to be the Happy Post. Still, a thing that makes me happy is children. I feel energized by their energy. The Nephews are growing up and it's pleasant to have children here at the store. Even when they turn up the sound on the television and leave model cars and planes all over the floor.

One of the children who's been here is a mislabelled disabled child. In the U.S. schools collect a little extra money if they can say they're working with a child who has a disability. Sometimes school staff don't know how, or don't take the time, to find out what a child's disability really is, but just slap a label that sounds trendy on the child and thus condemn the child to years of inappropriate "treatment" for some condition the child does not have. This child has a painful neck injury; sometimes pain and/or pain medication distract him, at school, so he's been mislabelled attention-deficient. I have been watching him. He has a *long* attention span, for a ten-year-old boy.

I'm glad that it's still possible, although there's no rational way to say it's likely, that this child will be able to start school in August at a small private school where he'll have a chance to catch up with his schoolwork and get rid of that trendy but inaccurate label. Who knows, he may even have a chance to get rid of the pain and the pain medication.

If anyone out there feels moved to help give this child the chance he needs...I'm glad that I was brought up to be the kind of person who, reaching the end of the month when people are trying to avoid spending money, with $5 in my pocket and no guarantee of paid work all week, can still feel free to care about the education of someone else's child. If someone were to hand me cash and say "Take this to the private school and apply it to that boy's tuition," they could call the headmaster the next day and verify that I had delivered the money. About that, at least, I'm happy.