"Another Painting"

I’m sure these boys look familiar, this is the 3rd painting that Caryanne from About the Small Stuff commissioned me to do of her adorable twin boys. (Daniel and Benjamin) She was hoping to have it in time for her parents as a Christmas present and I wrote to her a told her that I probably wouldn’t get to complete it in time, with my mom being sick and it being holiday time at work etc. but to my surprise I actually pulled it off. Yeah! I absolutely loved painting her boys they are soo cute and Ben, like Hailey has Cerebral Palsy. If it isn’t obvious in the painting and I know alot of you look for this now. This time I placed the green c.p. awareness ribbon over their grandpa’s heart. If you would like a painting of your child, please don’t hesitate to email me at harrold.janet@gmail.com 100% of the money will go directly to Hailey for future therapies that are not covered by insurance. Such as Conductive Education, Hippotherapy etc.

Transforming Bullies into Educators

Often times children with disabilities are misunderstood as well as misrepresented. Typically developing kids just don’t understand why kids with special needs do the things that they do and the lack of education results in bullying and name calling.
I believe that kindness, compassion and knowledge are lessons that must be permeated in the classroom in preschool and reinforced into continued education. If we are surrounded by
individuals who are a bit different for whatever the reason, be it a learning disability, a figurative disability or a speech impediment, combined with educators who can explain why their abilities may be different than the majority, the students will be better able to understand the differences rather than fear them. Knowing and understanding why a person may be different will more often discourage bullying and name calling and promote compassion. We need to intervene early enough by educating everyone, students and teachers alike. Changing the overall climate of the school is necessary to foster a profound impact on school bullying as well as educating children at an early age about how to interact with someone who has differences and by raising awareness and encouraging friendships. What can we do as a community to promote these essential components to build a better foundation for our kids to be able to live in a place of peace and harmony?

Hippotherapy Poem "I Saw A Child"

I Saw a Child
by John Anthony Davies

I saw a child who couldn't walk,
sit on a horse, laugh and talk.
Then ride it through a field of daisies
and yet he could not walk unaided.

I saw a child, no legs below,
sit on a horse, and make it go
through woods of green
and places he had never been
to sit and stare,
except from a chair.

I saw a child who could only crawl
mount a horse and sit up tall
Put it through degrees of paces
and laugh at the wonder in our faces


I saw a child born into strife,
Take up and hold the reins of life
and that same child was heard to say,
Thank God for showing me the way.

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”

Being fairly new to the Special Needs Community it sometimes amazes me the amount of kindness that strangers show me when I least expect it. (It is also sometimes unbelievable the ignorance of strangers, but we’ll save that for another post) You may remember my friend June from alexandra glass art she is the artist that helped me make the C.P. awareness ribbons that I featured on a previous post. Well, this past weekend June attended Roslindale Open Studios. I decided that I would visit June and show my support for her work by paying her a visit. We also took the time to stroll around the neighborhood to see the other Artist who were displaying their wares in hopes of showing off their creativity and hopefully selling a few things. I’m so glad we did. We entered upon this one particular artist who makes handmade jewelry from the rocks that she finds on Cape Cod. Now, jewelry is not something that I wear often, I very seldom get the opportunity to go out and I don’t like to wear jewelry while I am working. But while peeking over June’s shoulder at the stone earrings I noticed an awareness ribbon that caught my eye. I picked them up to show June and the woman who made them asked me if I had a personal connection to the awareness ribbon, I said “yes, my granddaughter has C.P.” she leaned over to me and said “then take them for her”, I said “oh no, I couldn’t, she is only three years old and she doesn’t have her ears pierced but thank you” She insisted and said “then you wear them in her honor, then she can look at them all the time”. I was just so touched I asked her if I could give her a hug.
I write this post in hopes of paying it forward. Please be kind and show the love by following this link you never know, you just might find something that you have to have or you may even find a Christmas gift for someone that is special to you.