Who Are Children?

People.

Children have human rights.

(If you don't believe me that children have them, Google it. I dare you.)

They have thoughts, opinions, ideas, and they love to express these.

My background is teaching and human services. I feel I would be lost without my human services side of understanding.

The other day I heard a story from a student teacher whose supervising teacher yelled at a child for not having a book.... and also yelled at a child saying "if you didn't miss school so much then you wouldn't have missed out on having this template and would be able to find it!"

Fair arguments?

Perhaps... but...

This child was 6 years old.

I really hope your mouth is dropped and you let out a huge "GASP" of shock.

If you did not, consider these points:

- The child is 6. six. They are only just learning how to take care of themselves. There is a huge range of their abilities and not all 6 year olds are the same. Some can make their bed, some still wet themselves, some can count to 20, some don't know what their last name is, let alone how to write their first name.

- Is this the second, third, etc. time that this has happened? Do you see or talk to the child's parents/carers? Have you thought that they may not have the book because their family cannot afford it. Or the child's home life could be filled with domestic violence, and no offence dude, but a school book is not on their priority list in that situation. 

- Are there bullies? Does the child's things seem to go missing with no explanation and a look of fear on their face. 

- Yes. Sometimes the dog DID eat their homework. It's a stretch, but even I had a cat that would put numerous puncture holes into any piece of paper I was holding. Because apparently that was my cat's favourite game to play. 

- Is the child sick a lot? Are they always in hospital? Is there a more serious condition to their health, or are they poorly taken care of due to lack of income, lack of support, lack of a caretaker to give them adequate nutrition. Maybe this is why they were away for that extremely important lesson where the others got this template. I know, they are totally going to fail school and fail at life but hey, what are you gonna do. [sarcasm]

I'm sure there could be more scenarios to this situation. And I could have demonstrated way more annoyance and sarcasm...

I thought everyone learnt to put yourself in someone elses shoes. This for me is common sense. I have however realised over the years when I've been teaching children this, that even adults don't have this concept. Is it their fault? Probably not. Because obviously this skill is missing from the lack of someone showing them. We only know what we have seen. 

What are your thoughts on this?

Was the teacher too harsh on the 6 year old? 

I don't think it was ok to talk or deal with the student that way. There should have been more time to explore, or even just take a second to ask, "Why?". I of all people know how teaching can be a stressful job, but in those moments of frustration you should know better than to snap. You are an adult. You know you can give yourself that one deep breath and have a quick think of how to deal with that situation, and it is never to yell and make a child feel awful about themselves and be embarrassed in front of the whole class.

A teacher should be someone they feel comfortable and confident to talk to, share problems with, seek advice, and look to for guidance. You are a role model. There is a teacher-student relationship. And being at school may be the only positive thing in that child's life right now. 

Think twice before treating children however you feel. If you wouldn't talk to or treat a fellow adult a certain way, then you should not do that to a child. My motto with the children I take care of is basically I will treat you how you treat me, which is also reversed. For example, smacking. When I see a parent hit their child, and often it is for the child hitting their sibling, I laugh and wonder how they don't get it. When a child speaks to me rudely or ignores me I pull them up on it by saying "Please don't be rude to me, I listen to you all the time, so that is not fair if you don't listen to me." And guess what? It works every time. 

Stand up for children's rights. 

Coconut Flour VS Almond Flour - Which is better?

It seems as though everyone is jumping on the Clean Eating band wagon.

There are a lot of new products you will come across that everyone will have only positive things to say... so how do you really know?


Here are some reasons you may want to avoid or limit Almond Flour.


1. How many Almonds?

A cup of Almond Flour = 90 Almonds

Could you sit there and eat even 30 almonds? I would think that as a bit of a struggle, but 1/3 cup Almond Flour in your pancake and you wouldn't bat a lid. Just think of the calories!

2. It is not heat stable

This relates to the fancy shmancy chemistry of breaking the bonds leading to oxidising the fatty acids = free radicals = cell damage = no no!


3. High in enzyme inhibitors

This is a problem for the digestive system. Enzymes are necessary for digestion, such as that of carbohydrates and fats. This can lead to bloating and stomach pains.


4. It has PUFAS 
- slows down metabolism
- slows down thyroid function
- inhibits detoxification
- depletes antioxidants
- encourages estrogen (weight gain, PMS, acne)



Are you picking up what I'm putting down?



If you are going to continue your Almond habit, try soaking them first in water. This will make it a lot easier for your body to digest.


Coconut flour is a healthier choice. It is grain free, safe to heat, and not toxic to the body. The oil in coconut flour is a proven superfood and highly recommended for boosting your metabolism, and yes you guessed it, weight loss!

A little bit goes a long way so remember cooking with coconut flour is not a 1:1 ratio so check your recipe online.



BUT

Ultimately remember that you can have it all... in moderation.




What are your thoughts on Coconut VS Almond flour? Send in your recipes to be featured!

A Disappointing Reaction...

In my previous post I was talking about How I Asked My Bridal Party to be involved in our special day.
I hadn't yet asked my two best friends to be my flower women. We had decided to have our siblings be in the bridal party and we didn't want it to be too huge. 10 people including us was enough!

I came up with what I thought (and still think) was a really sweet way to still incorporate my friends so they felt they were still a big part of this special time. And ofcourse I wanted to ask them in a special way. This idea involved the irony of giving them flowers, accompanied by a poem I wrote (you can read this in my previous post).

Yesterday afternoon I went around to Friend 1's house to give her the flowers in person and ofcourse see her reaction and get all excited and girly with her. She was suprised and confused I was giving her flowers but still smiled as she read the poem. Then she briefly said yes and gave me a quick hug. Then made a comment about how funny it would be if she said no and we had a little joke about that (along the way I too was thinking how awkward if someone said no) and then she made a comment about how she's everyone's bridesmaid and oh how busy am I, all still joking around.
I thought it was odd she used the word bridesmaid and then was worried she was confused about what I had just asked her (even though it was written very clearly 'flower woman').
To avoid any awkwardness I tried to steer the topic into being positive and mentioned it was her and my other friend who would be my flower women because I still wanted them involved, and oh yay how cute you get to walk down the aisle with my little nephew. In saying this I thought I would get the excited reaction I was anticipating.

She didn't respond.

And for the next minute she was completely poker faced, monotoned, and said nothing. Didn't ask me any questions. (Also up to this point she never made any effort to ask about how I was going with everything, had I asked my sister to be MOH, or just anything in general you would think a best friend would ask when there's planning for a wedding. This is also a 'friend' who has been calling me to rant about how she's not engaged and everyone else is... and also made the comment 'oh everyone gets engaged on Valentines' trying to make mine seem less important).

And that was it.
She just brushed it all off, including me, and rushed out the door to go to work. I had planned to have some time before she had to leave so I knew this was odd and out of character for her.

I immediately called my fiancée and explained what had happened and how it was very odd, weird and just didn't seem right. I was really disappointed she wasn't excited (because I was!), nor did she recognise the effort I put in to 1. Ask her, and 2. Include her!

A few minutes passed and I got a text message.

'So I'm not a bridesmaid'


....








Because these are my reactions, I have chosen to ignore it whilst I sort through my emotions and try to get some clarity. It's hard to explain how I'm feeling as I'm sure some of you may be taking this differently, but this is the 'straw that broke the camels back' and it's really making me rethink the entire friendship. Because I have not been happy in this relationship for quite some time now. 

Please feel free to leave comments, suggestions, ideas, etc. 

I have a lot of thinking to do...

And everything in between...

All About Zoe is a blog that has started from the simple idea that I just want to share my thoughts and ideas with you all. Everyday I learn something new and wanted to find a way to share that with someone other than my partner, who I'm pretty sure is already getting sick of me talking his ear off!

I plan to blog about health, beauty, fashion, home decor, family, life and everything in between.

I encourage you to create a safe and welcoming community on here and to interact with me and others through the commenting systems.

I hope this is everything I expect it to be... and I'm excited.

xoxo

Zoe