Surfers Healing VB 2014 = One Perfect Day

Before I start trying to put Ashton's 5th year of Surfers Healing into words, I want to share the links to his previous experiences:

1st year: 2010

2nd year: 2011

3rd year: 2012

4th year: 2013

Yes,  you read that right.

Ashton participated in his fifth year of Surfers Healing. We've been blessed and tenacious enough to sign him up for this amazing experience, every single year since 2010. I'm so glad. Yes, each year truly gets better and better. Yes, we live for this day, every summer. It's that one day a year that there is no staring, no rude comments, no pity looks and no judgement whatsoever. You combine the warm & salty sea air, with an amazing population of kids and their families and mix it together with an amazing group of volunteers and professional surfers and you truly do get, ONE. PERFECT. DAY! 

From the tears that are flowing at the water's edge from the on-lookers comprised of parents, friends, families and others to the smiles, giggles, high 5s, thumbs up and hugs that are being shared amongst the surfers and kids in the water, you can tell that this is a truly special day for so many that are there witnessing the magic. The magic isn't just the kids' alone, nor is it just the surfers. The magic is witnessed by every single person in attendance. 

This year's event was even more waves, excitement and magic - it was two full days! So for the first time in the last 5 years (this year, being year 5), I made the decision to volunteer and Holden volunteered with me! It was such a wonderful experience, getting to dedicate our time to a cause that blesses our family with such an amazing experience every year. We helped gather up goody bags and give them to the kids on Friday, as well as handed out some medals to the amazing kids as they came out of the water from their surf experiences. It was such an amazing experience to see the smiles on these kids' faces and the tears in their parent's eyes as the watched their kid do something so amazing and so cool! That was truly the best part of volunteering - watching the transformation of the kids. They are all so strong, so brave, so courageous and so amazing! I'm so proud that we are a part of the autism community.

Here's Holden, taking a break around lunch-time. So many people asked how old he was and of course, we laughed when they guessed around 8 or 9. He IS twelve-years-old after all! HAHA! He was a good sport about it though and well, he is on the smaller side. The best things come in small packages, right buddy?! He was such a huge help and had a lot of fun he said.

His favorite thing to do though was, by far, handing out the medals. A friend of ours, (mentioned in a previous Surfers Healing post) Emily Peat, captured this image of Holden giving her son his medal.

What you don't know is, that when we were handing out medals, Holden gave out probably two to three times as many as I did because he got such a thrill out of handing these kids their medals and, for the few that would let him, placing it around their neck. On our car ride home that night, I asked him if he wanted to do it again next year and he said "most definitely YES!" I'm blessed with such a giving kid who didn't even ask to look at his phone (I had it with me), who never complained about being at the beach early (8am) and staying all day (til 2:30). He didn't even want to stop for lunch, but realized he had to when all the surfers were out of the water!

Holden, I know I'm just your mom, but I was (and am still) so proud of your attitude and love for those who are different. You took to volunteering like you've always been doing it and then, when given the chance to hand out medals, declared it the most fun thing ever! You were eager to watch all the other kids surf, you were the first to clap your hands for them catching the waves, and you were running up and down the water's edge trying to give as many kids as you could their medals. Thank you for being so awesome and for being so giving of your time. Not many twelve-year-olds would have been so eager to give of their time to others. Thank you dude. I love you with all of my heart!

Saturday: Ashton's SIXTH surf experience, as he had just surfed the previous weekend with another organization, Life Rolls On. Surfers Healing though, holds a super special place in our hearts.  But first, we had a little race to tackle, you know, just a little 5K! :) Ashton got to race with his super cool friend, Amory and Holden raced with a dear friend of ours, Heather. Unfortunately, Holden got sick the week leading up to the race, so adding that with not a lot of running this summer and he definitely didn't run anywhere near his best effort. But, he placed SECOND in his age group! Amory, who despite not being in his top running shape (his words, not mine!) placed FIRST in his age group!! Way to go guys!!!!

So then, the moment we had been waiting for....... SURF TIME! Ashton's surf-time was relatively early in the day and we went directly from the race to the welcome and prayer, to the surf time basically. Also, even Holden got a chance to surf; he was SO stoked! Too bad his knee was scraped from a fall last week, because he only rode one wave in, but he said he wants to do it again next year, so we'll see :) So, onto the surfing pictures......

Prayer circle before the start of surfing - loved hearing the Christian blessing, the Hawaiian blessing and the Spanish blessing. It cleanses your soul and helps your body and mind accept the healing of the salty sea-air and waves. Somehow, even the kids know this is a time to relax, be calm and listen..... it's amazing and beautiful.

Before surfing started for the day, Ashton wanted to see Mr. Izzy, Pito and 'little' Kalani. We didn't get his picture taken with Pito (seriously Pito, we have to get one next year!!!) but he got one with Izzy and some with Kalani and some of the other surfers. 

For anyone that has any doubt that Surfers Healing mission is one of happiness and peace.... check out the smiles on Ashton's face! Some of the surfers who have surfed with him multiple years (Kalani, Kalani, Christian, Sonya, Izzy and others) have noticed such a huge change in him from year to year! His smiles get bigger, his ability to listen to directions and wait have gotten better, and he's grown so much! He absolutely loves every moment of this day! He would stay out in the water, riding wave after wave, if they would let him! Thankfully his Ms Sonya and his Mr. Christian adore him and kind of let him take the lead. He lets you know when he's done :) 

Then, Holden got a chance! I truly didn't think he'd actually go through with it, but he did! He squashed his anxiety about it and DID it! YEA!! Maybe next year he'll have more confidence now that he knows what to expect. I'm SO proud of him! 

Y'all see that super huge smile on Ashton's face, right?

What you may not see captured in these pictures are the grins that he and his surfer Sonya shared. I think they were sharing secrets out in the water as neither has told me what all the smiles were about! The secrets, the laughs and the grins are something to be cherished and treasured. The waves caught and rode are a chance for Ashton to feel free, happy, accepted, and at peace.

Ashton is truly a water baby. Seeing his smiles out in the water over the last two weekends has given me some ideas for his 16th birthday in April. YES! He's going to be sixteen-years-old. He won't be getting a driver's license or a new car as so many sixteen-year-olds will/would be getting. We've considered taking him to get his Virginia state I.D. as that seems a logical step in his growth process.

Maybe a trip to a different beach for spring break? Maybe some surf lessons? Maybe swimming lessons! Or maybe, we can work it out so we can do all 3!

But for now, we live with the happiness and peace that Surfers Healing brings us. We live with the knowledge that if we have to have special needs in our lives, that it brought us this community along with it. We live with the love of the people who make our lives better, by just being placed in it for one day a year. We are better people because of them. We love them as family, and are so happy that they've been brought into our lives... Thank you once again Surfers Healing and everyone and everything that goes into making this one (or in this case, two) days a year ONE. PERFECT. DAY! 

School's DONE!! Hip Hip Hooray!!

The boys could NOT be happier!!!

10th grade and 7th grade?!? That doesn't even REMOTELY seem possible!!! Y'all do realize this means Ashton will graduate in THREE years?!!?!?!? YIKES!!! I'm not ready for that!

These pictures were taken at the beginning of the year:

(seriously - they are ALL smiles the first day!)

These pictures were taken today, at the end of the year:

(but NEITHER of them were happy & smiling the last day - What's up with that?!?! LOL!)

~ HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR ~

1. Holden's TOP highlight was probably finishing his VERY FIRST 1/2 marathon in under 2 hours with a time of 1:50:06!!!

2. Ashton's TOP highlights were probably when he got to see Marc (in person) after periods of time of not getting to see him. At least, judging by his expressions and happines/flappiness, that's what I think. 

3. FIRST (and subsequent) report cards of the year were ALL As and Bs for both boys - HIP HIP Hooray!

4. The feeling of validation after the first 9 week periods that moving Ashton to high school was INDEED the best decision for him!

5. Ashton's connections he's made with friends at school. One of his friends at school is a 19yo young lady by the name of Megan. He ADORES her!! Lots of hugs and high 5s!!

6. That Ashton participated in every. single. CBI trip - WITH NO ISSUES!!!!

7. Holden successfully joined both the middle school wrestling AND track teams and even started as a 6th grader in the FIRST track meet of the season!

8. Holden successfully dropped his 1-mile times from 7:09 (last spring) down to 6:25 this year. His coaches want him to drop it down to 5:30 before the start of next track season - good thing he likes to run! there's work to do!

9. Ashton completed his 2nd 1-mile race and is getting ready to run his 3rd 1-mile on Saturday!

10. Holden has successfully completed 9 races (race # 10 is this weekend, an 8K) all with his "I run 4" buddy, Calder. Calder is a 5month old ADORABLE baby boy with Spina Bifida. While Holden hasn't actually ran WITH Calder, we hope we can make that a reality at some point in the future :) (*hint hint Danya & Zach). This has helped Holden to push himself and think of others while having a blast!

11. Ashton's vocabulary has picked up so much that I actually find myself saying, "PLEASE! Be. Quiet!" WOW! Non-verbal to telling him to hush?? Never imagined that day would come!

12. Holden received an iPhone for his birthday - FIRST cellphone! YAY!

13. Ashton received an award for being the "Most Considerate" in his class - again, a teenager WITH Autism no less getting that award... pretty remarkable if you ask me!

14. There has been a complete and total turn-around in Ashton's behavior this year. With the exceptions of one or two times, he's been easy to manage and reason with. Again, his comprehension levels have really picked up and it makes it easier to both communicate WITH him and helping him understand the world around him.

15. the most exciting highlight for me?! That my "babies" have done SO well this year! Receiving awards, accolades and press coverage is always amazing!! I am SO proud of my boys!!

MOM LOVES YOU BOTH VERY MUCH! Now, let's have an amazing summer this year!!!

Holden became a full-fledged half-marathoner!

Yes, Holden (who at the time, was eleven-years-old!) became a half-marathoner earlier this spring, on April 12, 2014 to be exact; just four days before his twelfth birthday. Yes, that means he ran 13.1 miles at one single time. Not only that, but he had a time goal in mind and he beat that time goal by ten minutes!! More on that later in this post.

What most people don't realize is how long Holden had been preparing for this. Or, how we'd consulted with his doctors and his allergist (who also manages his asthma) to be assured that he was up to this enormous task and that he was healthy and in shape and was properly prepared. It's not every day that a youngster will run this distance, though he certainly wasn't the youngest or first, and won't be the last.

The most important fact for everyone to know and realize though, is this is something Holden himself wanted, not something we pushed on him. He had decided last summer he wanted to try and start running longer distances, as in 10-miles or so. What this means is, he started preparing in September of 2013 for the Surf-n-Santa 10-miler in early December. He prepared for over 3 months to get ready for that race and had a time goal in mind. 1:30:00! An incredible 9:00/mile pace. While he didn't quite make his goal, he did run a very impressive 1:35:26, considering the rainy, cold, and very windy conditions, he had nothing to be ashamed of.

A few days after that race, he said he was ready to sign up for his first half-marathon, he chose the Dismal Swamp Stomp 1/2 Marathon held in April on the beautiful Dismal Swamp Canal trail. He/we chose this one as his first half as we'd heard it was a very flat and fast course, a very good first half-marathon for anybody, let alone a youngster.

His goal?

To run the half-marathon in two hours!
As I told you previously, he beat his goal time by ten minutes!

He ran an astonishing 1:50:06!

That's an incredible half-marathon time to begin with, but when you add it the fact that it was his first half-marathon and his first-time ever running that exact distance in addition to only being eleven-years-old, he ran an incredibly amazing race! I want to pause a moment and say a huge thank you to Amber Pratt. She had been instrumental in helping prepare Holden for this half-marathon craziness and had taken him on many, many, many long runs with her. They started these longer runs in late September or early October of 2013 and over the course of the six months leading up to the half-marathon, spent countless Sundays doing long runs around her neighborhood, etc. Holden never questioned it. He knew he had to put in the hard work and time if he wanted to have a successful half-marathon. He knew that if he didn't properly prepare, we would pull him from the race, something he didn't want to have happen. Amber encouraged him along with these long runs - progressively lengthening each run every weekend to where his last "longest" run before the race was 12.5 miles. He would never actually run 13.1 miles before the race, which is kind of frightening but we and he knew, that if he could run 12.5 miles, the last .6 miles should be a piece of cake. Keeping in mind that his 12.5 mile run was 1:52:43, we were pretty sure that given race-day adrenaline kicking in, and barring any unforeseen obstacles happening, that Holden should have no problem meeting his goal. Fortunately, a few days before the race, Amber decided to run the race with Holden and signed up as well. I will forever be indebted to her for that, because I know it made Holden feel a lot more comfortable, knowing that his long-run buddy was running beside him. It was all he'd known the entire time of training, so I'm glad that worked out. I would also like to thank Steve Sheppard, Dennis Welch, Aric Martinez, Heather, Thomas Hicks and all the many friends and family that supported Holden's journey towards his goal. The running community in this area is amazing and just knowing that my son is getting to grow up knowing so many amazing individuals, is a beautiful and inspiring thing. I know we probably had some nay-sayers initially who thought we were nuts to let him attempt this. But, we had faith in his abilities and knew that he wanted to do this and that he was willing to prepare. Also of note to thanks, Darrin Snyder. An amazing friend and truly inspirational athlete. He is a hand-crank athlete and after doing an amazing race with his young protege, Rebecca Rollick, he went back out on the course to locate, encourage and finish again with Holden. It was amazing to watch all of his hard work pay off. All those long run Sundays and drives out to Suffolk? They helped prepare him for that moment at which he crossed that finish line, ten minutes faster than he had trained for!

I later heard that he had a mild panic attack and started to hyperventilate about 12.5 miles into the race. I think he had realized at that point that he was going to accomplish his goal and he got excited and a little nervous. When I saw him nearing the finish line, he looked as though he'd just begun, not like he was just finishing up 13.1 miles! Easy-going, amazing form and just ready to get it done. He didn't even look exhausted or anything! I was so proud of him, and I know he was proud of himself too, as he should have been.

So.... to wrap up what had already been a fantastic day with his race, he got honored as the 2014 Inspirational Story of the race! The video below is from the race, and his story was also featured on the race's website at http://dismalswampstomp.mettleevents.com/race-info.html.

Because of the coverage, he also got interviewed by Wavy10 news reporter, Ariane Aramburo, for the Hampton Roads Show segment "I Am Hampton Roads". They did an amazing job with the interview and Holden was very confident and well-spoken during his segment. That interview can be viewed at the following link, http://wavy.com/2014/04/11/i-am-hampton-roads-holden-mccormick/ - I urge you to watch it! :)

So, now for the fun part - the PICTURES!!! :)

Check out the amazing surprise Holden got from his little "I Run 4" buddy, Calder, and family!

What a sweet way (literally, lol) to commemorate such a HUGE event for him!

FLAT HOLDEN!
(he decided the morning of the race to wear a different s/s shirt instead of the one picturedLOL)

This is the shirt he decided to wear :)
Supporting his IR4 buddy, Calder
and
spreading Spina Bifida Awareness!

Getting ready before the race by fueling with Island Boost, Yum!

Also showing off his bib number, 939!

Getting ready to race with Ms. Amber - THANKS AGAIN Amber for training and running with him! You made his first half-marathon a wonderful experience!! :)

Now for the EXCITING part........ Holden's race results/splits!

How incredible is it that he kept a nearly even pace the entire race?! I was told, even when he started to have pains in his ankles, etc that he didn't really slow down at all. AMAZING!!!

Imagine my relief when I saw that tiny little speck come towards me in front of Chessie the bear! I had been, of course, tracking him the entire race, but couldn't hardly believe he was going to do it, he was going to break his goal by such a large margin! AMAZING! That's Mr. Darrin, to Holden's left, the amazing hand crank athlete that I mentioned earlier.... he rode him all the way to nearly the end :) Ms Amber is in behind Holden as she let him have his glory and let him finish ahead of her and by himself!

I want to be like him when I "grow up"!

AMAZING push to the FINISH little man!!!

Look at the air he got in his final strides!! WOW!!!

I don't think the crowd knew what to think! LOL

They certainly didn't expect to see this tiny body crossing the finish!

Holden and a friend of ours, Felix Tanh.

He came down from Ashburn, VA to run the race.

Holden tried to catch up to him (and very nearly did; Felix ran a 1:48:52!)

but Felix ran an amazing race!

Post-race silliness! Way to run little man!!! 

Here's Holden getting his age-group award (he was 1 of 1 in the 12 & under male group, LOL)

However, if the age group had been 15 & under he still would have placed first and if

it had been 19 & under, he would have placed THIRD! AMAZING!!!

Probably the highlight of Holden's day, aside from actually finishing in well under his goal.....

The elite male runners were very enthusiastic about his inspiring story and shook his hand after he exited the stage. They were even more amazed at how well he'd ran. I asked if Holden could have a quick picture taken with them and they very happily obliged. Holden looks a little star struck and wasn't sure what to think :) AMAZING DAY, AMAZING RACE and AMAZING KID!

So proud to call him ours! :)

We can't forget - the adorable, amazing and most inspirational tiny buddy ever, Calder!

This tiny one is Holden's little IR4 buddy. This group pairs able-bodied runners with special needs children and adults through an online Facebook group called "I Run for Michael". Holden got paired up with this little cutie pie a couple of weeks before his half-marathon and our whole family is in love with this cutie. He's 4 months old and is showing Spina Bifida who is boss by being a little rockstar and defying all odds! We're so blessed to have him and his family in our lives, even if only virtually for the time being. Holden hopes we can meet this little one and his family someday! This tiny little guy has pushed Holden to think of others, given him self-esteem that we can only help support, and has given him the inspiration to keep doing for those who might have a harder time than he has.

Thank you Danya & Zach for allowing my "tiny one" to run for your tiny one! :) 

For more information on I Run for Michael, go to: http://www.whoirun4.com/

or look them up on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/irunformichael/.

There are currently over 2900 runners waiting for their special buddy match. If you are the parent or caregiver of a special needs child or adult, please consider joining this amazing group. As the mother of both a special buddy and a runner (typically the runners are adults but there are a few children who are amazing enough to have their own buddies, Holden being one of them), I love this group.
The family it allows everyone to be a part of and the premise behind it; to support and love everyone, without hesitation.

Geez.... AGAIN?!?! Campaign to END the R-WORD!

SERIOUSLY?!?!?!

AGAIN?!?!

In less than a week, Ashton's "cover" (if you will) of Brian Hull's cover of "Let It Go" from Disney's Frozen, got 2 comments using the R-WORD! ARGH!!

*seriously banging head on her computer*

Do people not realize how cruel sounding that word really is?! Can people not learn a little netiquette and use the old saying "if you've got nothing nice to say, then don't say it all?!"

Just from doing a little YouTube digging, I'm going to assume that the two users who posted the mean comments on Ashton's video are children, or at the very oldest, teenagers.

THAT DOES NOT MAKE IT ANY MORE RIGHT!!

Just because you are not an adult does not mean that you shouldn't know better than to call people names or to say that things are rude and inconsiderate and degrading. Let me ask you a question ("general audience of my blog" you, not a specific person). Would you like it if YOU were called a "retard", or that something you posted online was referred to as "retarded"? My guess is you would not, and it would, at the very least, hurt your feelings.

While you did not call ME specifically a retard or say that something I posted was retarded, you DID say those things in reference to my son. My amazing and handsome son whom has overcome many obstacles and challenges in his life. Many that you (*specific to the people who posted mean comments*) probably have no idea of, and I truly hope, you never will. He's struggled to make friends. He's struggled to fit into a world that is not meant for those differently-abled. Ashton faces struggles every day, learning to cope and live in a world that is oftentimes mean and cruel. We've been very fortunate that we've been able to surround him with love, attention and compassion. He's surrounded by family AND friends who absolutely adore him. We've got a great "team" at school that makes sure Ashton is able to learn, grow, and mature right alongside his peers. We have great physicians who are always available to answer questions and help us figure out the next steps in our life.

You mean people who keep posting comments on Ashton's video are just that, *mean*. But, while you hardly register a blip on our radar, I've made it my mission TO END THE R-WORD! Please, just stop. STOP using the word, in ANY fashion. It's degrading, mean and quite honestly, very cruel. You may think "oh I'm just joking", but to someone who may happen upon the comment (or in this case, the MOTHER of the child in said video), it hurts their feelings to see their child, one has struggled to fit in for most of his life, being called names. I realize you probably don't care about my feelings, nor my son's. I also realize that you (the specific people I'm referring to) will likely never see this post. But the next time you go to comment on something, whether it be on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Reddit, or any other social media site, stop and think ... "Is this really a necessary comment? Is it constructive? Does it help the person in any way? Would I want someone to talk to, or about, me this way?" If the answer is no, than maybe you should leave well enough alone and move along. I'm not saying all comments need to be happy, flowery, positive comments all the time (I actually appreciate constructive criticism or comments that just merely say "I don't like this"), but let's not degrade others just to make ourselves feel better.

Once again, I'll post a link to Ashton's video, as I truly am very proud of it. He did a wonderful job, all things considering, and who knows, maybe he'll have found another "thing" thats interesting to him, singing. Aren't we all a little happier with some music and song in our lives?




and here was Brian Hull's response to Ashton's video :)


Thank you for taking the time to read this post.

With utmost respect,
Jenn, Ashton's Mom

The dreaded "R-word" came up in our life.....

First off, let me apologize for being so incredibly absent on my blog. 2014 is proving to be a very interesting and fulfilling year! It's amazing everything that has gone on and there's so much to tell you all. But that all needs to wait.... I need to "get this off my chest" so to speak....

So this story starts back in December, when Ashton and I went to see the new Disney movie, "Frozen". He absolutely fell in love with it (as did I) and requested to "watch it again" as soon as the credits started to roll. Well, Marc and his girlfriend, Kaylie, were home on holiday break from Georgia Tech, so they took Ashton to see it again on New Year's Day. We bought the soundtrack and listened to the music quite a bit, so Ashton quickly picked up on the lyrics to all the songs from the movie.

Of course, one of the songs from the movie is absolutely lovely, a favorite of all of ours.... "Let It Go". You've probably heard/seen many covers done of it as have we. Well, I came across my absolute favorite cover done by a young man by the name of Brian Hull. Ashton immediately fell in love with it. He recognized the music from the movie and he adores the Disney character voices that Brian is able to do. 21 of them in all, which is astounding. Ashton watched this video probably 10 or so times the first time I found it and requested it almost every single time I sat down at the computer. So it played endlessly for a few days.

Pretty catchy, huh? This guy has AMAZING talent! Now you can see why we all love it so much.

Well, one night while waiting for bedtime to roll around, Ashton requested to watch the video again. Imagine my surprise when Ashton starts to SING along with the video! He NEVER sings, in fact, whenever we would ask him to sing he would say "I don't want to sing. Singing is boring!". HAHA! I asked Ashton if I could record him singing along to the video and he said yes! So I got my iPhone ready and sat him down and this is what I recorded:

Pretty amazing from a kid who thinks singing is boring! hehe

I uploaded it to YouTube and posted it to Facebook and got lots of awesome comments. I decided to send Brian a message via YouTube with a link to the video I had made and explained to him a little bit about why I was sharing it. You all know the schpeel - formally non-verbal, severely autistic 2-year-old who we were told might never speak. Brian responded back, and little did I know at the time, he had shared it on his Twitter account. Ashton's video now has over 3000 views on it.

HOW could I forget - I wanted to post the video message that Brian Hull sent to Ashton a couple of weeks after he saw Ashton's video. He thought it was so cool! I, unfortunately, cannot get the video to come up as a viewable video here, but here's the link to it. :)




So to lead up to what the point is..... I've never, in my life, ever had anyone use the words retarded, retard, tard - to describe Ashton. If it's happened behind my back, I'm unaware of it, but I've never had those words used in relation to Ashton on Facebook, YouTube, the many online communities I've been a part of, nothing. NEVER in the 13+ years we've been dealing with Autism and it's place in our life. I should have KNOWN it was coming. Nobody ever escapes that nasty word's wrath.

Well, it happened - a comment on Ashton's video. I was absolutely heart-sick and devastated. I posted to Facebook and sent a message to Brian (who I hope doesn't think I'm some crazy mom! lol) and he actually replied back to me as well as commented on the twerp's post on the YouTube video. We've gotten many positive responses back from it and in the grand scheme of things, it's just one twerp that was placed in our life to cause a stir in our relatively easy-going life. These moments happen, but this first time just absolutely took my breath away and I was absolutely enraged. I wanted to lambast the idiot and tear them limb to limb. But, I stayed calm and replied back (with what I hope comes across as stern kindness) and a few others have replied as well.

It just goes to show you that you're never immune from this kind of stuff. Thankfully, Ashton's got amazing friends and family who rallied around us with this twerp's unkind response to his video.

Just know, that if I EVER hear that word being used to describe my son again, or any other person, I will absolutely call you out on it. It's not a word that should be used. It's an "old"term used to describe mentally challenged people that now comes across as derogatory and rude and cruel. If you don't like something, say that. There's no need to be rude and callous. Or better yet, stick to the old saying "if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all". Really, sometimes things are better left unsaid.

Thanks for reading this rambling post and thanks to EVERYONE for their support!

MommaBear Jenn :) (don't mess with my babies!!)