Watch D.O.G.S. is a program that engages fathers in schools. Positive male role models are important for boys as well as girls, and having a positive male influence in a learning environment can be a powerful experience for a child. Primarily, the Watch D.O.G.S program has been an elementary-level program, completely run by volunteers, not administered by the school directly but usually via PTA organizations. I am signing up as a volunteer for the Evergreen School District and will be present at Covington Middle School with my daughter for one entire day, if not more.
My takeaway from the introduction meeting is not necessarily how wonderful this program is, which is definitely the impression I got about the program. It's not really the potential or the thought of influencing a child's life. It's how many men were there, estimating about 30, and how many of those took volunteer forms to fill out. Some wanted to fill them out immediately. It was amazing.
I am thrilled with the level of dad involvement at Covington. We have all heard the stereotypical dad scenario, overworked and not interested in being too involved with the children because the wife has that handled. This day and age, that is not as much the situation. Between two-income households where both parents are working, changes in work hours, and shifts in the dynamics of child-rearing, you would think it was obvious why men have that stereotype. However, it is more common, even if not enough so, to see a dad that has the responsibility of homework, parent-teacher conferences, extracurricular activities and, yes, even being the one volunteering at the school.
Consider joining the Watch D.O.G.S. program in your school, or start one up! Show your kid, and all the kids out there, that there is a positive male role model in town, and it's you!
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Dog love on Instagram
Have you seen Yogurt the Pirate Dog? This is a trend on Instagram, pet love in the form of full accounts dedicated to the little stars. Yogurt is a one-eyed, floppy-tongued female chihuahua with a breathing problem and a following of almost 19,000 people as of this writing. She fits in that category of something that is so ugly it's cute. There are plenty of those kind of animals on Instagram. Here are a few animal-specific profiles for your family to oogle over:
I might be biased though.
Want to find some trends in Instagram pictures? Go to Statigram and search for a hashtag (like "dogsofinstagram" without the #). It's amazing what you might find. My personal favorite:
I might be biased though.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Hot Cheetos and Takis: Implications of music and family
Get to know the people behind the production in this interview by The FADER.
If you haven't seen the recent buzz about the Hot Cheetos & Takis video (above), and the kids of the Minneapolis North Community YMCA extracurricular rap class Beats & Rhymes, known as Y.N.RichKids, you have missed out on a lot. These aren't just cute kids with a professional music production and a few videos. These kids have, in this parent's opinion, embodied the potential of music to be more than just background noise for kids. In a music market overrun by adult themes, it is the non-profit programs that have been instrumental in developing child-level music appreciation without the degradation of their status in society.
What does that mean? I mean to have you watch the video, the rest of the videos on their web site, and consider what they could be rapping about. The most controversial song I've heard so far on the free downloads (that's right, FREE) of music from Y.N.RichKids is "G.F." on the School House Rap album, about a boy seeing a pretty girl and wanting her to be his girl. Compared to what that could be, the spectrum of lyrics that could go along with a more adult subject like relationships, the song is more middle school "like" than the complexity of "love". In all, I am very impressed with the lyric choices, the subject matter and the professional polish of the music this program is producing. It's something I am not ashamed of letting my kids listen to.
Now, in full disclosure, rap is not generally the favorite of our family. I grew up with rap and hip hop in the 80s and 90s, but my tastes turned to guitar-related music as I was learning guitar and rock myself. Morgan has always been more into pop, country, rock and punk. The kids vary from pop music to tweenpop, though each has their own personal taste (Aiden loves rock and punk, Alayna is more into tweenpop like Sabrina Gomez and Demi Levato, Brooklyn likes pop like Bruno Mars, and Bella likes classic rock). However, it's not like they haven't heard rap and hip hop before. I listen to crossover hip hop and spoken word, like The Roots, Flobots, Scroobius Pip, KRS-One, or crossover beats like Portishead and Massive Attack, something with a message that doesn't include being a thug. Fooling yourself into complacency by rapping about how horrible of a human you can be is just not something I care about, nor is it something my kids should be interested in.
There are some exceptions. I've always been impressed with Eminem, Jay-Z and many of the rappers that came from the 80s. Maybe that's why I like Y.N.RichKids. It reminds me more of that old school sound and cadence, but with more contemporary producing quality.
We need more of this in the mainstream. Where are the record deals for the kid-friendly artists? Sure, the Aquabats have a TV show, but you don't hear them on any mainstream radio. The general public likes controversial. It sells. Meat dresses and naked wrecking ball videos are what sell music to adults that have money.
I haven't bought music in a long, long time. I don't download it illegally either. As I said in a previous post, there is plenty to hear on free radio and public downloads. And as my economic status improves, I'm not adverse to buying a song on iTunes or Google Play if it's something I really like. But album-based consumerism is dying. I'm more likely to find what I want on Pandora or iTunes Radio and then go out and buy it because I want to add it to a collection. And I am adding Y.N.RichKids to that collection.
Aiden is learning trombone, for what reason I still have not worked out. We showed him a video of Mighty Mighty Boss Tones as an example of what that could mean to him as an artist (incidentally, the guy playing trombone in that band is black, like the trombone player included in The Roots touring team). If he wants to try to create something, a recording perhaps, with that instrument, I can work out a hip hop style song on open source software and let him write it himself, using his trombone as a melody.
This is a true implication of what music could be for a family, an expressive channel without the adulthood if needed. Some kids have been through more, and maybe want to express that through song. That is completely fine, as long as the family considers what public performance of such songs can cause, the consequences, both good like support and bad like ridicule, that would occur from such promotion. But include music in your child's life, and do it early. Not just Elmo or nursery rhymes, but real music like Y.N.RichKids, Aquabats, or someone Greasy Kid Stuff plays on their radio show.
Join us as a family enjoying music. As a family.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
The first day of school, 2013
It's looming over my shoulder, getting closer and closer. I'm torn between excitement and utter sadness; excitement at the prospects of watching my children grow and learn, and sad at the fact that they ARE growing, and each passing day gets them one day closer to adulthood.
Alayna starts middle school, MIDDLE SCHOOL! She's growing into such an amazing, smart, beautiful, kind young woman. I'm so proud of her. She's worked SO hard this last year. She's made 2-3 years progress in occupational therapy over the last 11 months. We're still waiting on her physical therapy evaluations, but I'm willing to bet there's some amazing progress there too.
Aiden, my sweet sweet boy is starting his last year of elementary school. God, that makes my heart ache. My little boy is not so little anymore. He's nearly as tall as his momma and just all around amazing. He's looking forward to next year and his move into middle school, for now, this momma is just trying to enjoy him as a little boy for one more year. We met his teacher tonight, and thankfully Aiden already knows him as he was Aiden's track coach last year.
Brooklyn is entering 1st grade. She's torn between complete excitement and anxiety. I'm hoping this year is better for her, she spent so much of last year so anxious every step of the way. We met her teacher today and saw her class list, she has friends from last year in her class, I'm really hoping that helps.
Isabella, my baby... She's starting Kindergarten. my baby is starting Kindergarten! She is SO ready. She's THRILLED, she cannot wait! In her mind Kindergarten is the equivalent of a trip to Disneyland. We won't know who her teacher is until Friday afternoon. She gets to go for 1 half day of school next week as a "get to know you and school" day.
Every day my babies get bigger and bigger, they get smarter and smarter, and I love them more and more. For now, I'm going to enjoy the fact that school hasn't started yet, that we still have a few more days of summer vacation, and I still have several more years of my babies as children.
Alayna starts middle school, MIDDLE SCHOOL! She's growing into such an amazing, smart, beautiful, kind young woman. I'm so proud of her. She's worked SO hard this last year. She's made 2-3 years progress in occupational therapy over the last 11 months. We're still waiting on her physical therapy evaluations, but I'm willing to bet there's some amazing progress there too.
Aiden, my sweet sweet boy is starting his last year of elementary school. God, that makes my heart ache. My little boy is not so little anymore. He's nearly as tall as his momma and just all around amazing. He's looking forward to next year and his move into middle school, for now, this momma is just trying to enjoy him as a little boy for one more year. We met his teacher tonight, and thankfully Aiden already knows him as he was Aiden's track coach last year.
Brooklyn is entering 1st grade. She's torn between complete excitement and anxiety. I'm hoping this year is better for her, she spent so much of last year so anxious every step of the way. We met her teacher today and saw her class list, she has friends from last year in her class, I'm really hoping that helps.
Isabella, my baby... She's starting Kindergarten. my baby is starting Kindergarten! She is SO ready. She's THRILLED, she cannot wait! In her mind Kindergarten is the equivalent of a trip to Disneyland. We won't know who her teacher is until Friday afternoon. She gets to go for 1 half day of school next week as a "get to know you and school" day.
Every day my babies get bigger and bigger, they get smarter and smarter, and I love them more and more. For now, I'm going to enjoy the fact that school hasn't started yet, that we still have a few more days of summer vacation, and I still have several more years of my babies as children.
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Brooklyn, strep throat, and hospital visits
Saturday August 10th Brooklyn came down with a virus, the same one my nephew Asante had (a day or two of a fever, followed by a day or two of a sore throat). Saturday was fever day, Sunday was sore throat day, and by Monday she was fine. That entire week she was fine.
Until the following Monday, August 19th. That morning she woke up complaining that her neck hurt and she was hot to the touch. I took her temp and it was 101. I called the advice nurse at her ped's office, and she suggested that I take Brooklyn up to the ER to be checked for possible meningitis (which is the first thing they think of when they hear neck pain and fever), especially since Brooklyn was refusing to move her head at all.
At the ER when going over Brooklyn's symptoms with the doctor and the doctor examining Brooklyn it was concluded that it wasn't meningitis. They did a strep test that came back negative (but they always culture it for 24-48 hours). It was decided that she probably just had a virus and we needed to let it run it's course. So, back home we went to use tylenol and motrin for pain and fever and push fluids.
Tuesday August 20th Brooklyn woke up and her neck was visibly swollen, she couldn't swallow and she was crying. So, I called the advice nurse again, she said I should bring Brooklyn in to be checked out, just to be sure there wasn't something else going on. Brooklyn had an elevated temperature, but not a fever. She saw the doctor, and it was concluded that she COULD have mono (too early to test, but she also didn't have any abdomen pain/discomfort that is present with mono), but most likely she had an infection in her lymph nodes. The doctor prescribe Augmentin (an antibiotic). After I got that filled at the pharmacy I got a call from the ER saying that Brooklyn's strep culture was positive, so she did need antibiotics, they said that the Augmentin would work perfectly for that and that she should be feeling MUCH better within 24 hours of the first dose.
Tuesday she got 2 doses of Augmentin in her, but she was still feeling pretty awful, and she looked terrible. She refused to eat or drink anything, she only peed once in 24 hours, and that night she started vomiting. So, back on the phone with the advice nurse I went. She said Brooklyn was most likely on her way to being dehydrated, and I should take her in for IV fluids. So we headed back to the ER.
At the ER the doctor ordered the start of IV fluids, but she was also concerned with possible mono, so she asked the nurse if she would draw a bit of blood for some lab work before starting the IV fluids. They took the blood, started the IV and Brooklyn and I sat back to wait. After a bit the nurse came in and said Brooklyn's white blood cell count was really high, so the doctor wanted to give Brooklyn a broad spectrum antibiotic. Shortly after that the doctor came in to talk to me. She said Brooklyn's white blood cell count was consistent with a MAJOR infection (much more severe than strep throat). The doctor told me that sometimes people can get an abscess in their throat from strep, so she wanted to do an x-ray of Brooklyn's neck and chest.
We did the x-ray and waited for the results. When we got them, the doctor said that the x-rays did show a rather large mass in Brooklyn's throat, so she wanted to give Brooklyn a steroid which would help with her breathing (it wasn't labored, but she was breathing VERY loudly). She said she also wanted to do a CT scan to be sure if the mass was swelling due to the strep throat or an abscess; but that either way Brooklyn was being transferred to a children's hospital.
The CT scan showed that Brooklyn did have an abscess, and the only way to fix it was surgery to clean it out. We had to be transported via ambulance to the children's hospital, and that wait took 2 hours. It was 5am by the time Brooklyn got loaded onto an ambulance. During the wait Joe got the other kiddos to my parents' house and drove up to the children's hospital to wait for us.
Around 6am we got settled into a room. At 8am the surgeon came in to discuss the possibility of surgery with us. He still had to look at the CT scan, but that most likely they would need to go in through the right side of her neck and drain the abscess, they would have to leave a drainage tube, and they'd have to remove that in 3-4 days. He said the surgery was a bit dangerous due to the fact that 1. there's a main artery in her neck, 2. The infection was VERY close to her spine, and 3. the infection could possibly spread down towards her heard.
At 9am we were informed that they were preparing an operating room for her, and by 9:30 we were down in the pre-op room. We met the head surgeon that would be doing her surgery and he said that he should be able to go down her throat and access the abscess, this would mean no drainage tube and no scar, as well as less recovery. This also meant that the anesthesiologist would have to put her breathing tube up her nose and down her throat to give the surgeon the room he needed to access the abscess.
By 9:55am they started the surgery. Poor Brooklyn was terrified and she cried as they wheeled her away. I cried too. About 30 minutes later the surgeon came out to tell us the surgery was over, she did great. They ended up getting 5ccs of puss (a teaspoon of puss) from the abscess. They also sprayed the area out very well to make sure it was cleaned 100%. About 20 minutes after that I was called back to the post-op recovery room. It was terrible. Brooklyn was very upset, it took me 15 minutes to calm her down, and even then she barely recognized me. Shortly after that we were moved back to her room. She slept for several more hours and woke up sometime around 3pm and said she was hungry. She ate a plate of scrambled eggs and a bunch of grapes. Later on that night she ate about 1/4 of a ham and cream cheese sandwich, some mashed potatoes, and some jello. I slept maybe a total of an hour while in the room. I had been up since about 8 am Tuesday.
Brooklyn had a good night Wednesday night, she slept from about 11:30pm until about 9am when she was woken up by the doctors needing to check her out. That gets us to Thursday. She was doing GREAT, eating, drinking, peeing, etc. So, after lunch (and taking her antibiotic capsule well) we were all set to be released. Brooklyn is taking her regular Ritalin ER and Ritalin (for her ADHD), her regular Clonidine (for sleep), and now some heavy duty antibiotics (for the infection) and some probiotics (to prevent tummy issues related to the antibiotics).
She goes in tomorrow to have a check up with her regular pediatrician, and then she'll be seen again after finishing off her antibiotics just to be sure everything has cleared up and healed well.
She's back to her usual self, running all over with TONS of energy.
I'm going to send a thank you card to the ER doctor. In my opinion, she saved my daughter's life. If she hadn't investigated a bit there's a VERY good chance we'd have gone home and the abscess would have been allowed to spread, potentially reaching Brooklyn's blood stream and/or spinal cord.
Until the following Monday, August 19th. That morning she woke up complaining that her neck hurt and she was hot to the touch. I took her temp and it was 101. I called the advice nurse at her ped's office, and she suggested that I take Brooklyn up to the ER to be checked for possible meningitis (which is the first thing they think of when they hear neck pain and fever), especially since Brooklyn was refusing to move her head at all.
At the ER when going over Brooklyn's symptoms with the doctor and the doctor examining Brooklyn it was concluded that it wasn't meningitis. They did a strep test that came back negative (but they always culture it for 24-48 hours). It was decided that she probably just had a virus and we needed to let it run it's course. So, back home we went to use tylenol and motrin for pain and fever and push fluids.
Tuesday August 20th Brooklyn woke up and her neck was visibly swollen, she couldn't swallow and she was crying. So, I called the advice nurse again, she said I should bring Brooklyn in to be checked out, just to be sure there wasn't something else going on. Brooklyn had an elevated temperature, but not a fever. She saw the doctor, and it was concluded that she COULD have mono (too early to test, but she also didn't have any abdomen pain/discomfort that is present with mono), but most likely she had an infection in her lymph nodes. The doctor prescribe Augmentin (an antibiotic). After I got that filled at the pharmacy I got a call from the ER saying that Brooklyn's strep culture was positive, so she did need antibiotics, they said that the Augmentin would work perfectly for that and that she should be feeling MUCH better within 24 hours of the first dose.
Tuesday she got 2 doses of Augmentin in her, but she was still feeling pretty awful, and she looked terrible. She refused to eat or drink anything, she only peed once in 24 hours, and that night she started vomiting. So, back on the phone with the advice nurse I went. She said Brooklyn was most likely on her way to being dehydrated, and I should take her in for IV fluids. So we headed back to the ER.
At the ER the doctor ordered the start of IV fluids, but she was also concerned with possible mono, so she asked the nurse if she would draw a bit of blood for some lab work before starting the IV fluids. They took the blood, started the IV and Brooklyn and I sat back to wait. After a bit the nurse came in and said Brooklyn's white blood cell count was really high, so the doctor wanted to give Brooklyn a broad spectrum antibiotic. Shortly after that the doctor came in to talk to me. She said Brooklyn's white blood cell count was consistent with a MAJOR infection (much more severe than strep throat). The doctor told me that sometimes people can get an abscess in their throat from strep, so she wanted to do an x-ray of Brooklyn's neck and chest.
We did the x-ray and waited for the results. When we got them, the doctor said that the x-rays did show a rather large mass in Brooklyn's throat, so she wanted to give Brooklyn a steroid which would help with her breathing (it wasn't labored, but she was breathing VERY loudly). She said she also wanted to do a CT scan to be sure if the mass was swelling due to the strep throat or an abscess; but that either way Brooklyn was being transferred to a children's hospital.
The CT scan showed that Brooklyn did have an abscess, and the only way to fix it was surgery to clean it out. We had to be transported via ambulance to the children's hospital, and that wait took 2 hours. It was 5am by the time Brooklyn got loaded onto an ambulance. During the wait Joe got the other kiddos to my parents' house and drove up to the children's hospital to wait for us.
Around 6am we got settled into a room. At 8am the surgeon came in to discuss the possibility of surgery with us. He still had to look at the CT scan, but that most likely they would need to go in through the right side of her neck and drain the abscess, they would have to leave a drainage tube, and they'd have to remove that in 3-4 days. He said the surgery was a bit dangerous due to the fact that 1. there's a main artery in her neck, 2. The infection was VERY close to her spine, and 3. the infection could possibly spread down towards her heard.
At 9am we were informed that they were preparing an operating room for her, and by 9:30 we were down in the pre-op room. We met the head surgeon that would be doing her surgery and he said that he should be able to go down her throat and access the abscess, this would mean no drainage tube and no scar, as well as less recovery. This also meant that the anesthesiologist would have to put her breathing tube up her nose and down her throat to give the surgeon the room he needed to access the abscess.
By 9:55am they started the surgery. Poor Brooklyn was terrified and she cried as they wheeled her away. I cried too. About 30 minutes later the surgeon came out to tell us the surgery was over, she did great. They ended up getting 5ccs of puss (a teaspoon of puss) from the abscess. They also sprayed the area out very well to make sure it was cleaned 100%. About 20 minutes after that I was called back to the post-op recovery room. It was terrible. Brooklyn was very upset, it took me 15 minutes to calm her down, and even then she barely recognized me. Shortly after that we were moved back to her room. She slept for several more hours and woke up sometime around 3pm and said she was hungry. She ate a plate of scrambled eggs and a bunch of grapes. Later on that night she ate about 1/4 of a ham and cream cheese sandwich, some mashed potatoes, and some jello. I slept maybe a total of an hour while in the room. I had been up since about 8 am Tuesday.
Brooklyn had a good night Wednesday night, she slept from about 11:30pm until about 9am when she was woken up by the doctors needing to check her out. That gets us to Thursday. She was doing GREAT, eating, drinking, peeing, etc. So, after lunch (and taking her antibiotic capsule well) we were all set to be released. Brooklyn is taking her regular Ritalin ER and Ritalin (for her ADHD), her regular Clonidine (for sleep), and now some heavy duty antibiotics (for the infection) and some probiotics (to prevent tummy issues related to the antibiotics).
She goes in tomorrow to have a check up with her regular pediatrician, and then she'll be seen again after finishing off her antibiotics just to be sure everything has cleared up and healed well.
She's back to her usual self, running all over with TONS of energy.
I'm going to send a thank you card to the ER doctor. In my opinion, she saved my daughter's life. If she hadn't investigated a bit there's a VERY good chance we'd have gone home and the abscess would have been allowed to spread, potentially reaching Brooklyn's blood stream and/or spinal cord.
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Angel, the special American Pit Bull puppy
There's this rescue group in WA that is making SERIOUS false claims about at least one dog they've helped place. It's sickening that a RESCUE for medically special dogs would make false claims about a dog that was adopted out through their rescue group. I'm not sure if the information they were given is false, or if they are outright lying by choice. I do know that the original owner has tried to contact them in regards to the truth. I have also reached out, via a blog post and their facebook page, to let them know that Angel was NEVER intended to be used in dog fighting. There have yet to approve my comments on their blog and my comments on their facebook page have gone ignored.
They're trying to say that Angel, an American Pit Bull Terrier born without back paws, was "saved from a life of dog fighting" by her disabilities. This couldn't be FURTHER from the truth.
Angel was born in June of 2011 into the home of a family that absolutely LOVES their pets. None of their dogs have EVER been used in fighting, and to suggest otherwise is an outright lie and slander against this family. You see, my cousin was the original owner of Angel. She LOVED Angel and wanted to keep her. But, my cousin was unsure as to what type of life Angel would have and how she would meet Angel's needs. So, my cousin contacted Wags to Riches, an animal rescue group. They said that they had connections to a program in California that could help Angel and that they would update my cousin with how Angel was doing.
Unfortunately, they did NOT follow through with their claims to update about Angel. Much later my cousin found out that poor Angel contracted Parvo, which is VERY dangerous to young puppies. At that point Angel was sent to yet another animal rescue in back in Washington.
Most recently Angel was adopted out to an AMAZING home where she will live out her life with a wonderful family. This is a blog post about Angel as of last week, http://www.seattledogspot.com/blog/dog-blog/post/pawless-pitbull-from-yakima-saves-moms-life-on-first-day-in-her-forever-home?fb_action_ids=10200451499789297&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_ref=.Ugahgbyq0k8.like&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210200451499789297%22%3A248256511965693%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210200451499789297%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%7B%2210200451499789297%22%3A%22.Ugahgbyq0k8.like%22%7D#comment_top
You'll notice in the article they AGAIN say, "Angel was born in Yakima and would most likely have suffered through a life in the cruel world of dog fighting, but because she was born with no paws on her hind legs, a rescue was able to save her from that fate." I have posted 2 comments explaining the truth behind Angel and what her original family intended for her, neither of those comments have been approved to appear on the blog. I'm certain that my cousin has also attempted to post comments regarding the truth to Angel's life.
Let me be VERY clear, Angel's parents were never used in dog fighting, Angel's siblings were never used in dog fighting, Angel would have NEVER been used in dog fighting. Angel's parents and siblings are FAMILY pets. Angel lived the first few months of her life in an amazing home with children who loved to snuggle her and gave her wonderful attention. The ONLY reason Angel was given up to a rescue agency is because the original family wasn't sure they would be able to meet Angel's medical needs.
So, I'm writing this to get the truth out. Angel was never intended to be a fighting dog. Not every American Pit Bull Terrier born was born to be a fighting dog. We need to stop this gross generalization of a very loved breed.
They're trying to say that Angel, an American Pit Bull Terrier born without back paws, was "saved from a life of dog fighting" by her disabilities. This couldn't be FURTHER from the truth.
Angel was born in June of 2011 into the home of a family that absolutely LOVES their pets. None of their dogs have EVER been used in fighting, and to suggest otherwise is an outright lie and slander against this family. You see, my cousin was the original owner of Angel. She LOVED Angel and wanted to keep her. But, my cousin was unsure as to what type of life Angel would have and how she would meet Angel's needs. So, my cousin contacted Wags to Riches, an animal rescue group. They said that they had connections to a program in California that could help Angel and that they would update my cousin with how Angel was doing.
Unfortunately, they did NOT follow through with their claims to update about Angel. Much later my cousin found out that poor Angel contracted Parvo, which is VERY dangerous to young puppies. At that point Angel was sent to yet another animal rescue in back in Washington.
Most recently Angel was adopted out to an AMAZING home where she will live out her life with a wonderful family. This is a blog post about Angel as of last week, http://www.seattledogspot.com/blog/dog-blog/post/pawless-pitbull-from-yakima-saves-moms-life-on-first-day-in-her-forever-home?fb_action_ids=10200451499789297&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_ref=.Ugahgbyq0k8.like&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210200451499789297%22%3A248256511965693%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210200451499789297%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%7B%2210200451499789297%22%3A%22.Ugahgbyq0k8.like%22%7D#comment_top
You'll notice in the article they AGAIN say, "Angel was born in Yakima and would most likely have suffered through a life in the cruel world of dog fighting, but because she was born with no paws on her hind legs, a rescue was able to save her from that fate." I have posted 2 comments explaining the truth behind Angel and what her original family intended for her, neither of those comments have been approved to appear on the blog. I'm certain that my cousin has also attempted to post comments regarding the truth to Angel's life.
Let me be VERY clear, Angel's parents were never used in dog fighting, Angel's siblings were never used in dog fighting, Angel would have NEVER been used in dog fighting. Angel's parents and siblings are FAMILY pets. Angel lived the first few months of her life in an amazing home with children who loved to snuggle her and gave her wonderful attention. The ONLY reason Angel was given up to a rescue agency is because the original family wasn't sure they would be able to meet Angel's medical needs.
So, I'm writing this to get the truth out. Angel was never intended to be a fighting dog. Not every American Pit Bull Terrier born was born to be a fighting dog. We need to stop this gross generalization of a very loved breed.
Saturday, July 27, 2013
11 years
Tonight (or more specifically, yesterday, as it's after midnight now) Joe and I celebrated 11 years of marriage. Over the years we've had our ups and downs, but I have to tell you there have been MANY more ups than downs.
With divorce rates near 40% nationwide, I say we're doing pretty darn good. Why is that though? I happen to think it's because we truly love each other. My parents taught me that marriages take work, they take trust, and they take faith. I think both Joe and I have done a pretty good job of working on our marriage, of trusting each other, and having faith in each other.
I couldn't imagine myself with anyone else, I can't imagine a better father for my children, a better life partner.
I look forward to celebrating again next year, and in all the years that follow.
With divorce rates near 40% nationwide, I say we're doing pretty darn good. Why is that though? I happen to think it's because we truly love each other. My parents taught me that marriages take work, they take trust, and they take faith. I think both Joe and I have done a pretty good job of working on our marriage, of trusting each other, and having faith in each other.
I couldn't imagine myself with anyone else, I can't imagine a better father for my children, a better life partner.
I look forward to celebrating again next year, and in all the years that follow.
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