Precious Minds, New Connections

Squirrel Rescued From Hurricane Isaac Can’t Sleep Without Her Tiny Teddy Bear Brace yourselves because I’m about to introduce you to the cutest thing you’ve seen all week, potentially this year.

If you are reading this post then you are probably well aware that trauma can wreak havoc on a child’s brain. A traumatic experience can cause long-lasting and deleterious effects. Taking young children away from their parent(s) (when there is NO reason to suspect that the parent(s) are abusing the child) is wrong. The long-term harmful effects on the child’s brain will never be outweighed by any short-, mid- or long-term effect on immigration policies and/or laws.

Child abuse and neglect cases were on a steady decline through 2016. This was fantastic news for all those working with Precious Minds, New Connections. Sadly, the funding for this effective parenting program ended and the last classes funded through the PMNC initiative were held in December, 2016. Now, we are seeing the effects of losing these community-wide education efforts. In 2017, there was a dramatic increase in child abuse/neglect cases and officials are again saying we need to put money into prevention. Our prevention program worked and hopefully our community will stick with effective prevention programs like PMNC in the future. (* there is no single cause to abuse and neglect just as there is no single solution. PMNC cannot claim full credit for reductions in abuse or neglect, but these statistics clearly indicate PMNC was a positive and effective part of the solution.)

Sharp rise in child abuse, neglect cases in Bexar County “In 2017, we had the largest number of confirmed victims of child abuse and neglect,” said a spokeswoman for the Children’s Shelter of San Antonio.

Nice story indeed!

I sat in Tim Horton’s with my daughter’s as I do often. Two ladies sitting near us started to stare and whisper. This is a pretty frequent occurrence for us you see; because my daughter Sophia was born with Down Syndrome. I sat there and watched these two women crane their necks to get a better look at her; completely oblivious to the fact that I was staring right back. Today it bothered me. It really bothered me.

Just then, a couple approached me, and I thought, “Oh great! More people who want to take a closer look!”

The man greeted Sophia with a high five and a handshake, and Sophia smiled and waved back. He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, “I have a story I would really like to share with you. But I am afraid I wont get through it without choking up.” I gently encouraged him to share, because now I was curious. This interaction was not what I was expecting.

He told me that he had watched the news last night. There was an interview of a mother who had recently given birth to a child with a major disability. She was on the news defending her decision to keep her baby. She was defending her choice NOT to terminate despite her doctors encouraging her to do so. He said, “The point is, you never know a persons impact on the world. You can never know what a person is able to do unless you give them a chance.” He looked at me just before he turned to walk away and said, “You are a beautiful person. Your daughter is beautiful. Congratulations!”

I immediately started to cry. There I sat in the middle of a coffee shop crying into a paper napkin. That man was the first complete stranger to ever congratulate me on the birth of my daughter Sophia. He was the first complete stranger to recognize her WORTH. Her VALUE. Her BEAUTY.

In a world where my daughter’s life is whispered about, where she is stared at, this man saw her IMPORTANCE.



Credit: Slice of Life

This is worth the read!

Instead of Teaching Your Kids To "Be Nice"; Teach Them This Instead… - Dr. Shefali “Be Nice” is one of the most common phrases we say to our kids, especially our young ones. It comes out of our mouth without thought, like a reflexive reaction to our eternal fear that our kids will grow up to be unscrupulous and cruel. Let’s stop to examine, what “be nice” really means.

This Saturday, January 16th at the Witte

join our community partners for a special family day full of activities that will start your year off on the right foot.
Family Days are FREE with museum admission!

11:00 a.m.
Kitchen Demonstration: Fresh From the Garden- Carrot and Butternut Squash Mash
12:00, 1:00, and 2:00 p.m.
Kitchen Demonstration: Fresh From the Garden- Beet,Orange & Walnut Winter Salad
12:00–4:00 p.m.
healthyUexpress-Mobile Mammography Unit and Health Screenings with UHS
It’s Pretty Being Green Nature Sketching at the Container Garden
Youth in Motion in the Prassel Courtyard
Drive Now Text L8R Prevention Simulator on Serenity Floor of H-E-B Body Adventure
Loteria and Aguas Frescas in Memorial Auditorium
Massage Demonstrations with Massage Heights in the Prassel Foyer
1:30 and 2:30 p.m.
Captain Calcium

2:45 and 3:45 p.m.
Storytime With The Super Sprowtz in Toddler Garden

Witte Museum PARKING AND DIRECTIONS: The Witte Museum is located at 3801 Broadway in Brackenridge Park, just north of downtown. The Riverside Entrance Gate is located more