Even fools are right sometimes!

By Ruby McBeth

Good luck with fooling your friends on Saturday. If you catch someone early in the morning, they may not be quite awake and you may be able to trick them. How about: “Did you feel the strong earthquake last night?” or “Look outside it snowed six inches last night!”

VOLUNTEERS STILL NEEDED

All 29,000+ residents in B.C.’s publicly funded longterm care homes will be surveyed about their quality of life. The goal is to make improvements for them, both locally and provincially. You can find all the details on the website: surveybcseniors.org

SENIORS CLUB IS ACCESSIBLE

The Seniors’ Club works at being people friendly. There are six accessibility parking places (permit required). The front and back entrances are set up for wheelchairs to enter easily. At the front door there are two walkers that can be used in the hall. The bathrooms are wheelchair accessible.

Different activities have choices to enable people to join in. For example, the card players have the option of using large print playing cards. There is also a stand for holding your cards if you have the use of only one hand. Floor curling provides sticks for people who have trouble bending down to throw the rocks. At least half of the players use the sticks. There is an area where you can socialize or work on a jigsaw puzzle. We are encouraged to wear name tags to help us get to know each other. (Now if I can just remember to put my name tag on!). Wendy and the other executive members want people to feel at ease in the Seniors’ Hall. We members see people coming to our social days on Tuesday and Thursday mornings as potential friends so come down and check it out!.

LIBRARY NEWS

The Fort St. John Public Library is now selling bus passes and tickets. Senior tickets are $15.75 a sheet and a sheet has 10 tickets. The adult one-month bus

On Sunday morning we were invited to a House church with Pastor Arreak giving the message and hosted by an Inuit lady who had not allowed English to be spoken in her home, including her children and her children’s friends. She not only invited and hosted us but welcomed us all with hugs and brought out an old oil lamp that was used for warmth and light in their past. She claimed what she received at the Conference was love, reconciliation, and healing of her deep wounds, and it was her way of honouring us, saying that from now on English speaking was welcome in her home.

Proverbs 19:21 states, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Truly we had no idea what the Lord had purposed for our trip. We can have our plans but we need to learn to step aside and let Him be Lord.

John Grady lives and writes in Fort St. John pass is $40.

Canning Preparation

Last year I could not find wide mouth mason lids when I went to can fruit. Granted, I started late. But even so this year I don’t want that problem. So when I was in Home Hardware recently and saw a whole stack of lids I bought several boxes. I came home to see what I had left over – none - so I will go back and buy enough for the season.

Quote Of The Week

The greatest lesson in life is to realize that even fools are right sometimes.

Ruby McBeth lives and writes in Fort St. John

Dear Miss Patti,

My child keeps coming home and mentioning another child’s name all the time. “Johnny did this... Johnny’s not listening to teachers... Johnny pulled my hair today.” I don’t know quite what to say in these moments. Sometimes I want to ask to switch to a different day to avoid Johnny, but I know this probably isn’t the best solution either. Advice?

—What To Do About Johnny

Dear What To Do About

Johnny,

This is called scapegoating and we see it everywhere! One child’s name in particular is repeated many times during the day due to their individual needs. That name is the one every child then learns. Ask many three and four-year-olds their friends names and they just shrug their shoulders. But Johnny’s name they remember because it is a name said a lot. So when a child complains that someone pushed them and the parent asks who, the child might automatically say Johnny since it’s the one name they remember and it might not necessarily be Johnny.

We had a case where a child was blaming another child for something that happened and that child wasn’t even there that day!

So when your child comes home playing the Let’s Talk About How Difficult This Johnny Is game, try and advocate for Johnny. “It sounds like Johnny is still learning the routines of your school. Let’s just remember to always be kind.” Simple and straightforward. In other words, “You worry about you and let the teachers worry about Johnny.”

Because we also don’t want the opposite to happen. If you encourage your child to be a support for Johnny, poor Johnny might then have a bunch of little bosses reminding him all day long what he’s supposed to be doing (or not doing).

If you’re Johnny’s family/ educator, and you know he’s struggling and getting blamed for things, help give him value in the class. Make a batch of muffins together to give to his friends or as an educator find the things that Johnny’s good at and set him up as a resource for others. When a child asks you to open a cheese string for example, direct them to Johnny.

“Can you ask Johnny to do that for you, he’s super good at that.”

Teaching empathy and perspective taking are important skills for all of us. You’re right, switching classes won’t help… there is always going to be a Johnny. Teaching children to advocate for others, having empathy and seeing things from others point of view will help them with all the Johnny’s your child will encounter over the years.

—Miss Patti

Send your questions to Miss Patti at motherofdragonflies2021@outlook.com

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