The best posts in blogging space Tag

"Just living isn't enough", said the butterfly, "One must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower".

Hans Christian Anderson

I am tagged to sent my post into blogging space and read others. I am tagged by Attitude, the ultimate power.

This is based on the SEO theory that links to posts inside your blog are more important than links to your home page. I have selected three posts I want to promote along with my site’s name. You should do the same thing. Keep it simple and spread our good work around to both share and build some ratings! Pick three posts that you feel are your best or those you simply want to promote. Your site name is listed with your 3 selected posts beneath. Once you have your post up: Add the sites and post links of the folks you tagged onto your post. Try to add the site and post links to anyone involved to maximize the effectiveness.Tag a minimum of 5 people! Try your best not to double tag people so it will spread better! Please actually read the posts from everyone so you can see some really good work from our beloved blogging friends! Make your title a little different from mine to avoid repetitive titles. Please try maintain some friendly updates to your post too.

READ the best posts in blogging space:

Revellian dot com SEO Keywords For Beginners Content: The Kings Illegitimate Stepchild Tales of Blogger-X IllusionMariuca - Wishing On A Falling Star Love In Disarray In Love With A Dream The Good ClientMariuca’s Perfume Gallery Perfume Shopping Spree Defining Beauty In Full SplendourFirst Time Dad Homer Kidnapped Something Ends Good Night Sweetheart! Hello Basil!Speedcat Hollydale Page Rocket Boy in Hawaii - DC9 Speedcat's Death Ride into Terror! The Boy Inside All MenAttitude, the Ultimate Power Cookies Happiness is a Decision; Choose to be Happy Happiness Vs. Human Nature

Dutchcorner The Key Cellphones It's all in the ears

NAFASG NAFASG Team recognised as Helium's Top 5% Best Writers Blogspot Tutorial: How to change Blogspot Layout With Free Templates The couple's Golden Key to Reconciliation

ADD YOURSELF HERE WHEN DONE BY LEAVING A COMMENT WITH ME

I tag the following people

A nice Place in the sun
Dickiebo
Traveldestinations
Missy's Place
Writing down the Words

Have a good read, marja

Relation between ear infections and dyslexia

Famous People with learning disabilities

It's all in the ears

Last week D  had a cold. Nothing to worry about, but when he said that his ears were popping I became a bit nervous. I asked the pharmacist if he could have an ear infection. She said that at age 13 and without any other symptoms this would be highly unlikely. Do you think now I am an overprotective mum. Maybe maybe not.

D  is dyslexic. This is not about flipping letters although it is seen a lot in dyslexics. Most dyslexics have problems with phonological awareness. They don't hear the sounds of letters in a word and therefore they can't blend them together to read a word. The brain compensates for this by using its right site.

D  was 9 when I enrolled him for the Gillon Phonological Awareness Training Programme at the University of Canterbury. After 18 hours of training he improved a whole year in reading. During this training he had 2 hearing tests. On both occasions he had an ear infection with no obvious symptoms at all. I than realised that the same had happened during random hearing tests at school. Later when I met Prof Gillon at the Dyspraxia Support Group, she confirmed that there was a correlation between ear infections and dyslexia.

Rosemary Boon, a psychologist at an early intervention centre wrote that one of the symptoms of an immune system that doesn't work optimally are frequent ear infections. Frequent ear infections are a major cause of Central Auditory Processing disorder (CAPD). She mentioned that 80% of the children tested in their centre didn't hear with enough sensitivity to learn accurately. This cannot be detected by conventional hearing tests because they test only a small range of the hearing scale.

When children have an ear infection, hearing acuity is reduced for up to six to eight weeks after the acute stage of the infection has passed. Dr Tomatis mentioned that when there are frequent ear infections, the little muscles attached to the eardrum get weak. Sound coming in get distorted. Accordingly these mumbled sounds enter the cochlea. Sounds with nearly the same base frequency like D and P, and T and D are difficult to analyse and an auditory processing delay occurs. One of the functions of the vestibular system which is also inside the inner ear is to lead the eye from letter to letter and CAPD can lead to eye tracking problems.

I think auditory processing delay results in sensory integrative dysfunction. If you want to learn about Sensory integration read this. Very simplified you can say when the input isn't right the output isn't right.

To conclude I think that glue ear and ear infections can play a significant role in acquiring learning disabilities. Many will say yeh but that is not scientifically proven. But to quote Edward de Bono "science is based on possibilities not on critical thinking". The good thing however is that people with learning disabilities can develop skills which are more difficult for others. The most important thing is increased awareness so that these people don't get lost.

Hope you hear this, marja

An ode to all mums

courtesy of google

GOD WORKED OVERTIME

By Erma Bombeck

When the good Lord was creating mothers, he was into his sixth day of "overtime" when the angel appeared and said, "You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one" And the Lord said "Have you read the spec on this one? She has to be completely washable, but not plastic, have 180 moveable parts....all replaceble. Run on black coffee and leftovers. Have a lap that disappears when she stands up. A kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair. And six pairs of hands......no way! Its not the hands that are causing me the problem," said the Lord, "It's the three pairs of eyes that Mothers have to have." "That's on the standard model?" asked the angel. The Lord nodded. "One pair sees through closed doors when she asks, "What are you kids doing in there?" When she already knows. Another here in the back of her head that sees what she shouln't but she knows she has to, and of course, the ones here in the front that can look at a child when he goofs up and say "I understand and I love you" without so much as uttering a word."

"Lord", said the angel, touching the sleeve gently, "Come to bed. Tomorrow..." "I can't", said the Lord, "I'm so close to creating something so close to myself. Already I have the one who heals herself when she is sick.....can feed a family of six on one pound of mince....and can get a nine-year old to stand under the shower." The angel circled the model of a mother very slowly. "It's to soft." She sighed."But tough." said the Lord excitedly. "You cannot imagine what this mother can do or endure." "Can it think?" "Not only think, but it can reason and compromise," said the creator. Finally the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek. "There's a leak," she pronounced. "I told you, you were trying to put too much into this model." "It's not a leak," said the Lord, "it's a tear"' "What is that for?" "Its for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness and pride". "You're a genius," said the Angel. The Lord looked sombre. "I didn't put it there."

The Key

Have a look at the other wonderfull submissions about The Key at Writers Island.

 courtesy of google

THE KEY

Find the key to your heart

Open it and see

What do you really want

Who would you like to be

Than find the key to change

Act like the person in your heart

At first it might feel akward

but you are good at playing that part

Being you becomes so much fun

You don't have to act anymore

You found the key to success

which will open every door

marja blom

Duvauchelle

On the way back, about 10 km from Akaroa we stopped at Hotel Duvauchelle named after two French Brothers. It is the oldest Hotel in New Zealand and it has had around 30 ownners. We had a nice cup of coffee but we are coming certainly back for a meal one day because the finest meals are served here.

The Hotel is very cosy and houses a huge collection of teapots and other knick knacks. The fun is that since I started making photo's for my blog I suddenly spot lots of pretty things I wouldn't have noticed before.

Akaroa

This morning we went for a trip to Akaroa. The weather didn't look good There were dark clouds in the sky. William said however "Dutch people don't melt from water" and off we went. Akaroa is about an hour drive from where we live and located at the end of the Banks Peninsula. The streets have French names because it was originally a French settlement. A ship called "Compte de Paris" arrived in 1940 when the country just became an English colony.

Akaroa was abandoned this morning or the other people did melt. Only a cat posed for us.

Akaroa is magnificently situated alongside a bay and surrounded by hills. When the weather is good you can take a boat trip to watch the Hector dolphins, the smallest dolphins in the world.

The charm of Akaroa is the beautiful cottages and old buildings along the main street and in the side streets. Lots of them are turned into shops with arts and crafts or they became coffee shops. Usually something from these shops keeps sticking on me, but this time I followed William who always increases his speed when we pass a craft shop. I thought I already treated myself on a beautiful scarf (I am a scarfoholic) last week. For half price however as it fits a genuine Dutch person.

Maykes poem

TOMORROW
By Mayke Blom

Over the sea that shines

A treasure lies

 Across the line

A cloudy staircase appears

We collide for a while

Fall into a puff of dreams

A memory hides

Petal flutter strokes window screen

Butterfly shivers

Erase panic thoughts

Deep inside carved snow

Love me more than tomorrow

 Behind a tangled column
We smile at its young glow
We live with the stars
It raised yesterday

Answer phone message

Mental Hotline? uh Is this funny?


.

This is the mental Hotline:

* If you are obsessive compulsive, please press 1 repeatedly

* If you are codependent, please ask someone to press 2 for you

* If you have multiple personalities press 3,4,5 and 6

* If you are paranoid, we know who you are and what you want, so just stay on the line so we can trace you call

* If you are delusional, press 7 and your call will be transferred to the mothership

* If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a small voice will tell you which number to press

* If you are depressive, it doesn't matter which number you press because nobody will answer

* If you are dyslexic press 696969

* If you have a nervous disorder, please fidget with the hash key until a representative comes on the line.

* If you have amnesia, press 8 and state your name, adress, phone number, date of birth, social security number and your mother's maiden name

* If you have short term memory loss, press 9 If you have short term memory loss, press 9 If you have short term memory loss, press 9

* If you have low self esteem, please hang up. All our operators are too busy to talk to you anyway.

Cheers, Marja

My Street

Just found this picture and I am very happy with it. This is a past impression of part of my street in the Netherlands where I lived for about 27 years. It is a main street in than a small town called Wijchen. Most people in the street, like my parents were shopkeepers. While they were selling clothes me and my brothers spent time on the Attic were my brother built huge train tracks, a gramophone turntable and were he was sending the music in the air from his secret radio station.

We also played on the street or lateron I hang out at the house opposite us. (The dark house at the far end). My friend and her brother had a room behind their house with couches, TV and music and the place was always filled with young people. I remember that the boys were often silly. They cut pieces of their hair and taped it on their legs to show how grown up they were. We also sang very loud to the music of eg. "paradise by the dashboard light" .

When I look at the picture I can see the house of the blacksmith and hear the klanging sound again and the clickety clack of the horses who came to him for new shoes. I also hear the banging of shop doors and clinging bike bells.

I remember waking up early on Thursday mornings when the market people were building their stalls. Lateron they loudly sold their market ware and there was a buzzing of people buying their veggies, cheese and fish.

On the picture is also the nice Christmas decoration lightening up the streets on dark winter nights and the cosy feeling of Christmas being near. On Christmas no presents for us. We got them on the 5th of December with St Nicholas. No, Christmas was a family celebration with lots of meals. The first one on Christmas night. After the night mess the table in the lounge was spectacularly set with candles and we ate buns with steak and other delightful stuff. But I am drifting of.

They keep on telling me how much everything is changed and that our old house has disappeared to make room for a new building. There are now many more shops, people and bikes. For me this street will always feel the same however and I will certainly visit it again because my mum lives around the corner.

Groetjes Marja

Alphabet of Live

courtesy of google

Found this game at the wonderful just a mother of two and loved it. The game is an eye opening experience and it really makes you think so for the thinkers here are the rules:

Rule 1: without changing the first word, after each letter of the alphabet, write a sentence that captives you, your essence.

Rule 2: Tag as many people as you want but at least one

Rule 3: List who you are tagging

The alphabet of live

Accept who you are

Break through the barries set up by people called prejudice

Create a better world by trying to be that world

Decide which road you are following so that you don't end up in the middle of nowhere

Eplore and you never get bored

Forgive your mistakes and learn from them

Grow like a flower and come to ful bloom

Hope that you get what you hoped for

Ignore negative people

Journey to explore and learn

Know that your truth might not be somebody elses truth

Love live and live might love you back

Manage your children or they will manage you

Notice the flowers, a smile and puppy dog eyes

Open the window to your heart but beware of thiefs

Play it makes you young

Question a lot and you will learn a lot

Relax you'll never get tired of it

Share your pain an it halves, share your fun and it doubles (dutch saying)

Try something new, like dancing in the rain, it's refreshing

Use your time wisely, have fun

Value what you have because the grass which seems greener on the other side might be from plastic

Work and put your heart in it

x-ray a child and you see beauty and innocense

Yield to laughter (yeh I am a copy cat)

Zoom in on the fairies who tell you some tales

I hereby tag; Ambre, Dickiebo, Keith, Missy

I invite anybody else who would enjoy this to tag themselves , but please let me know so I can come along and have a look.

Good luck, Marja

Attention

"Attention, it's time". No not for you. It's one of the voices I hear in my head. The attention one comes back every spring. When I hear that voice I first think I am delusional. No, Marja that voice is not really there, it doesn't really exist. It hits me again same place, same time every year; "Attention, it's time" What happens first is that the temperature goes up. The sun shines brightly and than.............First of all I keep going as if spring didn't arrive. I keep wearing my beloved turtlenecks. Next, little droplets appear on my forehead. I try I must have started menopause. The droplets keep coming. It's not a flash Marja, it's the sun. Time to start wearing your summer wear. I open the wardrobe, have a peek, try something on. Ooops too small. Must have been greedy last winter. There is the voice again "Attention it's time". I find another way out. I jump in the car, stroll to the shop, grab an XL out of a rack and than.............I gasp for breath. There it is in full view. There is nowhere to hide. Shall I run. There is too much of me in the mirror. The voice gets through to me now. " Attention, it's time.......to loose weight!

First I wail, no wine and cheese? No steak with mushroom sauce? Than the voice carries on; "you can keep on wearing your turtlenecks, you can spent all your money on a new outfit which still won't keep your son from saying " do I get a new brother mum?" Yeh he is charming isn't he. I surrender, the next couple of weeks beware. I will be grumpy and grouchy. I will however loose weight to get rid of that voice again.

Grrrr, Marja

poem about lunar eclipse

10 days ago on a Tuesday night we witnessed a beautiful lunar eclipse. Mayke really enjoyed it and I just found her poem about it.

In a million eyes
a glow of red shines
from a painted marble
in the sky
My brother and I
crackle neckbones
while the blue air
tickles our fingers
Passing clouds smog our sight
and time decays
But that single moment
stays with us forever

Culture of New Zealand

Kia Ora, Hi, Hallo,

When I read Keith's blog I regularly think "oh yeh we've got that and that". This is because New Zealand is in many ways the England of the South Pacific. Complete with scones, muffins, Sunday roast and fish and chips. Cricket is popular and Rugby is the national religion. I still don't know what rugby is all about though and keep preferring soccer to great dismay of the New Zealand people I know. They gave up hope though. The overarching structure in New Zealand is British as well, such
as the parliamentary system and the education system. There are however as many differences as there are similarities.

One thing what is unique about New Zealand is that it is bi cultural since 1980. The Maori language and culture is officially accepted next to the Pakeha (white European) culture. This means that all aspects of live in New Zealand are coloured by Maori ways off acting and thinking. When I worked in the Early Childhood sector for example I got introduced to the Whariki, a Maori concept which means Woven Mat. Goals are set to meat the different needs of a child, represented by the strands of the mat. One Goal is the Mana Reo which promotes the cultural understanding and background of the child. Children at school also learn the Maori Poi dance and the Haka. The Haka is a war dance which is also performed by the All Blacks, the National Rugby team.

In my years as a Scouting leaders I worked alongside Maori leaders and learned a lot about their culture, their respect for nature and got to experience a Hangi. Venison and Wild pig arrived on the back of a pick up truck of one of the leaders and was cooked underground together with kumra's (sweet potatoe) and pumpkin. Very nice. We are absorbing here all the richness of diverse cultures and become multicultural individuals. Something like doing the Haka on clogs in an English garden. Ha Ha.

Another difference is that New Zealand is an egalitarian society. There is a belief, with which I strongly agree, that given equal opportunities people will all succeed, if they set their mind to it. People don't really distinguish themselves here with clothes or language. Intellectual people are not more important than others. Of course there is a bit of a class system based on income but you better don't say it out loud (Oops) and you don't show it openly.

These are just a few examples which show the unique character of New Zealand. My children have already taken on a New Zealand identity and kiwi accent and they will be fully integrated. I think they are privileged to grow up here. We are Dutch kiwi's and proud of both sides.

E noho ra, goodbye, tot ziens, Marja