Frazzles & Co.

Weekend Music: Room Cleaning

by Chantelle - 11:19 AM

Saturday. It's room cleaning day. And laundry day. And dance party day! Here's what I'm listening to today:

1. Money on My Mind- Sam Smith

2. Girls Chase Boys- Ingrid Michaelson

3. Happy- Pharrell Williams

4. King and Lionheart- Of Monsters and Men

5. Trouble No More- Mindy Gledhill

6. Danse- TAL ft. Flo Rida

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Do you have plans? I do! I'm excited!

There's a big Sweetheart's Dance for all the young adults from church on Saturday, but I don't think I shall go. Being in a room filled with people alll hopped up on sugar and hormones is not my idea of a fun time.

Nope, my plans do not include any traditional romantic activities whatsoever! Instead, I will be having a Galentine's Tea Party, handing out valentines, and telling all my favourite people that I love them.

I think that's so much better than being grumpy. Or desperate.

(Hold the pitchforks please, bitter, single humans.)

Speaking of desperate, have you seen this?

The scary part is, I KNOW people like this.

P.S. This post was officially dubbed "The Valentine Post" on Frazzles&Co. Have you read it?

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I Didn't Love My Neighbour

by Chantelle - 9:42 PM

When I was seven years old, my family moved from a small town into Saskatoon. We moved into a quieter part of the overwhelming city, a house in a new development with empty lots for neighbours and so close to the airport that we fell asleep to the sound of planes landing.

A week or two after we got there, a little girl from down the road asked me if I wanted to play at her house. Delighted to have a playmate other than my brother, I ran in the house to check if it was okay, then followed her a couple houses over. The minute we got through her doorway though, I froze. A huge wave of discomfort and anxiety washed over me, and not knowing what to do, I made up an excuse to go home.

My mom looked at me puzzledly as I walked in the door. I'd only been gone five minutes.

"What are you doing home? You weren't there very long!"

My seven year-old brain couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation as to why I didn't stay. All I knew was that I had a bad feeling, wanted to go home where it was safe, and felt embarrassed about it. I didn't think she would understand, and knew I needed to tell her SOMETHING. So I said the first thing that came to mind.

"Um, I just didn't want to play with her."

"Why not?"

"Her house smelled funny. And her skin is a different colour."

Momma Froc's face turned a sickly ashen grey. I don't remember exactly everything she said. I remember her explaining that the little girl's house had lots of people living there because families come in all different sizes. I remember her explaining that the house probably smelled weird because they ate different food than we did. I remember her telling me that things that are different are not always bad, after all, my little sister was different wasn't she? And then she told me that she never, EVER wanted me to not play with or say mean things about people who had a different colour skin than I did. Because everyone was a child of God and that's what was important.

I was so ashamed.

* * *

That episode from my childhood has played over and over in my mind throughout the past couple weeks. Lately there has been so much hate, so much prejudice, in the world around me, and it's making me heartsick to think about it.

I've been blessed in my life to be surrounded by people that are different. People have been placed in my life with all manners of disabilities, both mental and physical, that come from broken families, that suffer from crises of identity, that have different ethnicities and cultures, that are of different faiths, and have dealt with trials I can't even imagine. Every one of those people was put there to teach me something, whether they left a positive mark or not, and I'm grateful for them.

I never saw that little girl again, you guys. We ended up going to different schools, and that was the only interaction I ever had with her. I don't think I even apologized. I've felt guilty about it ever since, and have tried my best to never be that unkind again. Now, I don't profess to be perfect, but thankfully I've learned a couple things since then.

It is not our job to judge. Our only job is to love. It doesn't matter if people are making bad choices or if they have a lifestyle different to your own. Someone's choices shouldn't be a requisite to kindness. I've found that you can always find a glimpse of the child of God that person is if you look hard enough.

Don't forget to love people. You never know who's going to need it.

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Weekend Music: TGIF

by Chantelle - 3:37 PM

TGIF.

(The "G" stands for "goodness". We don't profane the Lord around this part of the interweb, yo.)

Halle-freakin'-lujah! It's been a long one. I've basically been sick on and off for the whole week. And on Monday, my eyes were hurting so badly that I went in to the optometrist. Turns out, if you don't get your eyes checked for over four years, your prescription can change. New glasses for this girl! They should be here soon. Along with a package from Origrami.

So. While I lay on my couch with a husky man voice, impatiently waiting for my mail, here are some songs to kick off your weekend!

1. Don't Let Me Down- The Beatles

2. Believer- American Author

3. Beautiful Girl, Beautiful World- Tyrone Wells

4. So Blind- David Myles ft. Classified

5. Daft Punk- Pentatonix

6. Latch (Acoustic)- Sam Smith

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Sign Language Sass

by Chantelle - 10:05 PM

Oh man, my little guy at respite was SO cranky tonight.

Every once and awhile if he's good, I'll pull out my phone and let him watch short little Mickey cartoons. Usually only a couple though, because he's two and I don't want his eyes to glaze over and turn into little zombie-like squares.

I'd only been over for five minutes when he grabbed me by the hand and pulled me towards my coat. He pushed my hand toward the pocket and signed "more", meaning he wanted the phone. He rarely signs without being prompted so I was pretty pleased.

"Good signing buddy! Can you say please?"

He signed please, and I was so proud that I decided it wouldn't hurt to reward him a smidge. We watched a few videos and then I signed "All done!" and put the phone away.

Turns out he was definitely NOT "all done".

He threw the biggest temper tantrum I'd ever seen him throw. It was so bad that his mom came up from her work downstairs to see what was going on. At one point he actually snuck into my coat pocket and pulled the phone out for himself. I immediately signed "no" and put the phone up high on the mantle out of his reach. Inconsolable, the two-year old began hurling cars across the room like an ancient Greek shotput champion as he ugly cried and stamped his feet.

By then it had been like twenty minutes of this, so I decided to see if I could distract him with something else. I sat down and began playing with a train while he remained pointing up at the mantle in hysterics.

I moved over to play with the toy cars, and not long after heard two little legs running over. All of the sudden, a pair of little hands grabbed the cars out of my hands, and threw them in the toybox. I looked up at the two-year old.

He looked me straight in the eye and signed "all done".

And that's the story of how I got sassed in sign language.

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Give, Get, Guilt-free!

by Chantelle - 10:58 PM

I don't know about you guys, but I get buyer's remorse about basically everything. (Except groceries or purchases made with gift cards. But those don't count.)

Le. Worst.

That's why I think it's cool when you can buy things that benefit other people. Then you don't feel as bad! And if it's something you were going to get anyway, why not help someone else out too? This past week I compiled a list of some of my favourite charity-benefitting products and companies just for you!

1. Keep Ink
This site has lots of beautiful art prints and t-shirts, and for every $5 you spend, they donate at least $1 to a cause. You get to choose from a list of charities which cause you'd like to support. I have this print hanging on my wall right now:

2. The Brave Collection

The Brave Collection features handmade jewellery made by Cambodian artisans. The proceeds from these bracelets go towards fighting sex trafficking. My favourite part is that each one has the word "brave" on it written in the Khmer language.

3. LSTN Headphones

I LOVE this idea! With every pair of headphones you buy, this company helps provide a deaf person with hearing aids! And they're beautiful, so everyone wins.

4. Smile Squared

People are probably aware of "one for one" policies from companies like TOMS, but did you know you could do the same thing with toothbrushes? For each toothbrush purchased, Smile Squared donates one to a child in need. Did I mention they're bamboo and biodegradable? Rock on.

5. Autism Speaks phone cases
Everything in the Austism Speaks store gives a portion of the proceeds towards autism research. Nothing makes me feel warm and fuzzy like working with my autistic kids. And also, those phone cases? I'd rep that.