Think your life is tough? Read this…
Every Tuesday, Mama will share a personal story. This story was written by Anita
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Abuse is something I hate with a passion. But I’ve been abused in so many ways for most of my life. I’ve experienced all types, but each one feels so hard to carry.
I grew up in a house with my grandparents along with about 20 other people. It was a big house and family. All of us kids were treated unfairly by our parents and family members. My twin brother and I personally never lived with our parents, we just knew of them. We were verbally abused and physically. Always hit for everything, everything was always the kids’ faults. We were the dumb ones, lazy ones, stupid ones..only a few adults in the house treated us right.
When I was 8, one of my uncles started molesting me, my cousin, and my twin brother at the same time. He would make a game out of it. We would have to show our private parts and touch each other. I was so scared, I was little and didn’t understand it very much. I still don’t…
When I was 11, I was being molested by one of my uncle’s friends. He was our babysitter and we use to go over his house to swim while he was watching us. He was nice at first, always let me get my own soda. Then things got bad. He would take me in the house and touch me everywhere, make me feel so dirty.
It wasn’t long before he started raping me. The first time he drugged me, but then he stopped and did it whenever he wanted to. It was so bad I got an infection from the intercourse and my grandmother had to take me to the doctor because it hurt to sit down. I tried to tell, but no one believed me.
When I was 12, my twin brother and I started being molested by our father. We moved with him after we had enough of our grandparents’ house. He was a drunk. He use to beat us and molest me at night. He would come into my bedroom and do awful things to me.
Soon he started making my twin brother join in with what he was doing. I know my brother didn’t want to, that’s why I’m not mad at him. My brother was forced to do things with me so my dad could watch. Then my father went farther and started raping me.
Mean while, sometimes we still went over my uncle’s friend’s house. I was raped once more and got pregnant. My father found out and beat me when I was 3 months. I lost the baby…
My dad wouldn’t go to work sometimes, so he often didn’t have money for beer. So he decided to use me. He would have me wait into my bedroom for someone to come in and I would have to do everything that person tells me to do. The men that came, sometimes women, would pay my dad to do things with me.
I went into foster care at the age of 13, and go away from everything. My brother was left behind because he wouldn’t come forward. So here I am today telling you my story. And remember to stay strong, better days are to come. I’m telling you this now, and I’m only 15 years old….
- Anita
Mama’s Monday Favorite: Dry Soda
I love to drink soda but when I realized my favorite soda contained 48 grams of sugar (a whopping 12 teaspoons) I decided to look for a new soda to tickle my taste buds.
My quest for a new soda pop lead me to Dry Soda. Dry soda has several yummy, un-traditional flavors: Kumquat, lavender, lemongrass, rhubarb, cucumber, juniper berry, and vanilla bean.
Good news:
The vanilla bean flavor (my favorite) contains only 16 grams of sugar. That is only 4 teaspoons sugar. This makes me very happy!!
The lavender flavor (yummy too) contains only 19 grams of sugar. That is a little less than 5 teaspoons of sugar.
Dry soda is flavored with fruit, flower, and herb extracts and lightly sweetened with pure can sugar. You won’t find high fructose corn syrup, color additives, or caffeine in these drinks.
Dry soda is a soda that I’d give to a child…low sugar content = less hyperactivity.
- Mama
**Mama’s Monday Favorite is the sole opinion of Mama. No monetary compensation was received for the feature. If you have a product that Mama might absolutely love, send Mama one of your products. If she likes it, she might list it as a Mama’s Monday Favorite.
EveryBody Deserves a Massage Week — Staying in Touch
Can you believe it? A week dedicated to massage? July 15-21 is EveryBody Deserves a Massage Week sponsored by the Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals (ABMP) the largest organization serving bodywork professionals.
Did you know there are 278,000 trained massage therapists in the United States? Quick! Do the math, that’s 556,000 hands ready to rub, soothe, knead, stroke and squeeze you into a happier place.
It’s been documented that massage is a safe and effective way to reduce pain associated with arthritis and migraines, back pain and symptoms of carpal tunnel. It’s also known to strengthen the immune system and reduce aggression in adolescents and to reduce stress and improve work performance.
I’ve massaged the Tween-let since she was born; I found it to be wonderful way to bond with her.
With the average price at $60 an hour Aunt B knows that massage is a luxury in these economic times, but it doesn’t have to be. We can touch each other. Remember in the last post, where I asked where you feel your stress? Your chest? Your stomach? Take a moment to touch that part of your body, breathe into that spot until feel a little give. Relax. Perhaps you might want to treat yourself to a massage, deep tissue and Swedish are the most popular techniques.
I think this quote by Robert Noah Calvert pulls it all together:
… the application of caring human touch is an inherently innate behavior for giving and receiving love, which all humankind wants and needs. The real purpose of giving massage is to foster more depth of feeling for one another in order to bring out the love that often lies buried beneath the pain of everyday suffering.
Stay in touch.
- Aunt B
Mama’s Quote of the Day
“Food matters: Eat whole foods with good friends.” by Raquel S. Hunter
- Mama
Serena The Wanna–Be Vegetarian – Does Milk Do A Body Good?
We are becoming vegetarians and as the cow walks out the door with our burgers and pot roasts, there goes our milk too. Do we really need milk or is it just a habit leftover from childhood? Are we going to give up cheese too? With the revolt around bacon in full swing, we can’t quite give up cheese at this point. As for milk, I think we can find a substitute that is healthier for us.
Although I grew up drinking milk, I just never bought the idea that cow’s milk was good for people too. The thought just doesn’t make sense… uhmm… I’m not a baby cow it’s that simple. I’ve never given my children whole milk, low fat only and sparingly; they didn’t have to drink milk with their meals, only water. So here, I feel a bit ahead of the game.
I found this site to be the most helpful in determining which milk alternative we are going to choose. Click over and come right back!
You’ll see that although there are quite few soymilk products on the shelves, there is also controversy about how soy contains natural estrogen, which can interfere with our own hormonal balance. Rice milk seems okay, but the extra carbs are something that I don’t need. The almond milk seems to give the best nutritional bang and taste, with no natural estrogens to trip up our systems.
We’ll do our own taste test, and tell you about it. I’m already leaning toward almond milk. Which would you choose? Or do you drink any of these already?
For an even larger list of milk alternatives, check here.
- Serena
Truck Farming: growing food in your pickup truck
I’ve always been a big advocate of farming and producing your own food. My heart skips a few beats when I read or hear about an average Joe or Jane using unusual (but safe) techniques to grow their own food. I just learned something new: Truck Farming. Truck farming is an unusual technique to grow food when you don’t have a yard to grow it in.
The “Truck Farm” video, is a must see.
Let me know what you think about it.
- Mama
Staying In Touch
Where do you feel it when it comes on? Do you feel it in your throat, does your chest tighten or maybe it’s coiled in the pit of your stomach threatening to spring? Does your head thunder or does your back pinch together until your shoulders are sitting next to your ears? Does your heart feel weighted? Leaden? Racing?
Where do you feel your stress?
We live in a culture that praises us for thinking through problems. We give props for distancing ourselves from what we feel, while inside we seethe and simmer.
We don’t acknowledge what we feel. We Google and Facebook, shop, and we Wii, we eat and exercise. We stay plugged into our iPhones and Blackberry’s, plugged into everything except ourselves.
Not all stress is bad. Joy is a grand feeling.
Joy is pretty easy to manage. Anger, sadness, and fear are harder, it’s in reaction to those feelings that we know whether to fight or take flight.
What if though… what if we were in touch with those emotions? What if we knew what soothed us… how to breathe through them, walk away, call someone and calm ourselves down? What if we knew that we could ride out those emotions, feel them and be okay.
I want to challenge you to do a couple of things. Figure out where you feel anger, sadness, or fear. Identify the part of your body where you get the physical reaction to these feelings. Next, figure out what calms you, quickly. Music? The voice of a trusted friend? The smell of lavender or chocolate? Then write and let me know.
Stay in touch… with you.
- Aunt B
Mama sponsors Sterling
Sterling is a three year old, sixteen pound Sheltie mix. This poor boy’s coat was matted to the skin when rescued from Riverside County Shelter. He is a bit shy and will need a quiet, patient home to help him adjust to a new and happy life.
He is at the Glendale Humane Society (a no-kill shelter).
- Mama
