Mental Health Dad

Piece of Mind

     Greetings to all.  I've been thinking about my acronyms and I realize that I needed to get back to providing hope to those who really need to be encouraged.  These parents have alot to deal with considering that their loved ones are not just diagnosed with a special needs label.  They experience every emotion with their children and other loved ones as do normal parents, but only multiplied by a factor of one thousand.  I know how draining that feeling can be.  As a parent of a special needs child, I see it every day.  It's kinda like having someone leaning on your shoulders all day long in everything you do.  It can be the most physically painful thing to absorb.  The following acronym called to me as a moment of clarity in a world of exaspiration.  I feel a little bit better having been able to write it down and I hope that you will also feel the power of its healing ability.  As always, please give to help find a cure for our loved ones.  One day we will all be normal.

Doctors

     Good day everyone.  I've been hard at work composing a new piece for all of you out there.  I again went back to the t.v. show "who's line is it anyway" and designed a poem to fit their irish drinking song theme.  I thought that with all we do as parents with children with special needs or ourselves with labels that we have to deal with, the one thing that we all can relate to is our doctors.  Eventhough we love them, hate them, or tolerate them somewhere in between, we can definitely associate with them in one way or another.  So, please take a moment out of your busy days to read, or sing to yourself, the irish drinking song: Doctors.  Enjoy!

Happiness

     Well, here it is.  I went back to my roots of trying to give people hope for dealing with those with mental health issues.  What follows is another acronym however, it is designed to put a smile on your face.  Hope is a funny thing.  It can be achieved by giving it to a person directly or by just pleasantly diverting someones mind off the beaten path every once in a while.  Of course, my wish for everyone is happiness in all you do.  Moreso, I hope that happiness finds its way to all of you at some point in your lives considering what we all have to deal with as parents.  May the acronym of happiness live with you always.

Fathers

Greetings everyone.  I just finished a poem about fathers.  I'm sorry it is a little bit late for fathers day but I couldn't make it work til just now.  Surprisingly, it finished itself as a song not just a poem.  Now I know that some people would say that a song is just a poem set to music, turns out that it is a bit more than that.  The cadence, tempo, and style all have to come together and be the perfect match to the words.  It took a while to find the right music for it but I did.  If anyone has seen "who's line is it anyway", then you'll enjoy reading this with the music of the "ho-down" running through your head.  The words don't reflect that of my father but were intended to bring about the jockularity that is so common in the show.  So please enjoy my version of the father ho-down.

Autism

     Here is a third diagnosis in my installments of labels turned into acronyms.  I hope to have more fun in the future with other acronyms.  I will try to do some more on the topics of peace, love, and health.  In the meantime, I am planning to compose a book of my favorite poems that I have done.  Some of them are ones that I have posted and some are not.  I will be in touch with information as to when and how much the book will sell for.  As always, one half of all proceeds will go to finding a cure for mental health issues.  Thanks again to all.

Aspergers

     Hey, everyone.  I've got another acronym for you.  This one is centered around the diagnosis Aspergers.  As usual, I don't want to make anyone mad or upset so please take the following as something fun.  Again, if anyone has a label they would like to see done in an acronym, let me know via e-mail.  Thanks again.

Bipolar

Greetings to all.  As you know, my son is diagnosed with bipolar and aspergers syndrome.  I thought it might be fun to take his diagnosis and make an acronym out of it.  What follows is an acronym on the label bipolar.  It's a fun little anecdote that I do in my spare time.  I want to stress now that in no way are my acronyms 100% correct in nature.  I do try to get as close as I can to making them all relate as true to definition as possible.  I also do not mean to offend anyone, so if you feel that I am wrong or that I have missed the point all together, please understand that it was not my intention to do so.  Also, if you have any label or diagnosis that you would like to see done in this manner, then please contact me and I will try my best to accomodate.  If you would like to see what I have done already, then please visit my piece called "hope on hope".  You will find it in my April archives on my home page.  Thanks again , and as always your contributions are what is needed to put these and other labels behind us for good. 

Games of Life

     Here's a poem I recently composed in honor of my two sons and their obsessions with their game systems.  They have only one for now however, they will be getting another shortly.  All of the major fights and arguments are currently centered around "whose turn it is", and if one is doing it properly or not.  So I got fed up with all the shouting and the almost coming to blows and decided that I needed, not wanted, my family back.  If any of you parents are having trouble prying your kids away from their computer systems, then try anything you can to promote a family fun night, or some other activity for the summer.  You might just get your family back and as we all know, family should be the central focus of the house.  If anyone knows of a family that could use this advise, please don't hesitate to pass it on.  I'm not saying that computer games are bad, I just think that they should be enjoyed in moderation.

School Sports Dilema

Greetings to all.  I know it's been some time since I have written but I was sort of on vacation for a while.  I recently came across a dilema that has me wondering if I have done the right thing.  A couple of weeks ago, my oldest son came to me and ask, no pleaded, if he could join the football team for the next school year.  For those who don't know, my son is going to be 13 years old next month.  He is 5'8" tall and 280lbs.  As he is going into the 7th grade he is adnormally large for his age.  My wife and I have talked with the sports director at my sons school and he assures us that my son would do just fine.  Though my wife and I are still not sure if he should do this, we are allowing him to try a football camp for the summer.  The camp is designed to introduce the player to the game while not risking much bodily injury to them.  It sounds to me more like a flag football kind of thing.  If my son feels that he likes it and still wants to still join the football team for the fall, then we will allow him to do so.  What I would like is to receive some feedback from anyone who has been in this position before.  So, if you have had a child or have yourself been a child that has been diagnosed with a special need, and you have allowed or been allowed to participate in any extreme contact sport such as football, please get back in touch with me as to how it went.  I would like everything, the good, the bad, and the ugly.  You may contact me at my address in my about page.  Thanks to all in advance.  Hope to hear from you soon. 

Late in May

     The following is a poem composed as a timeline of events that happened as we approach the end of the school year.  If you're the parent of a special needs child, then you already know how hectic it is just to keep your sanity during this time.  Also, as summer break comes upon us, we parents are already dredding the inevitable orations of "I'm bored" or "there's nothing to do".  If I can offer some solice it is that summer break is about two weeks away.  That means that there's still some time to enjoy a little peace and quiet during the day.  Enjoy.