:) WADAYA know......or think Thursday-100 Dresses

For Relief Society we are having a Super Saturday in October. It is more of a Spiritual day. We were asked to read "The 100 Dresses" by Elenor Estes that she wrote in 1944. We read it and them we pass it on to the next person, hopefully everyone will get a chance to read it before October 10th. I'm sure the day will tie in with the book. It was very difficult for me to read. Yes, it is a child's book. Yes, it was written over 60 years ago. This is the story in a nutshell:

Although she wears the same faded blue dress to school every day, Wanda Petronski has a hundred dresses lined up in her closet at home, all different colors, all silk and velvet. Or so she claims to the gaggle of popular, better-dressed girls who gather on the playground to tease her. For one reason or another, Wanda doesn't fit in. She's poor, but so are lots of the other children. She's shy, but whether that's cause or effect of her treatment at school is hard to say. She may or may not be smart; she never speaks up in the classroom. Wanda Petronski's family is from Poland and most of the other children "didn't have names like that. They had names easy to say, like Thomas, Smith, or Allen." So when Wanda begins talking about her fabulous wardrobe at home, the girls just can't resist turning it into a game, at her expense of course. Popular Peggy is the ringleader. Her best friend Maddie is not entirely comfortable with the teasing, especially since she herself wears hand-me-downs. But when she thinks about speaking up to Peggy, she pictures herself as the new target in the school yard, with the girls asking her where she got her dresses. "Oh well," Maddie thinks, pushing her uncomfortable thoughts away. "What difference did it make?…Peggy was the best-liked girl in the whole room. Peggy could not possibly do anything that was really wrong, she thought."

Then one day the teacher recieved a letter from Wanda's father informing the class that they would be moving, and hoped that they could move to a place that they would not be teased.

Wanda was a very talented artist and drew 100 different dresses, and actually won a contest. The girls that teased her went to her home to try to apologize, but they had already moved, so they sent a letter.

Wanda drew pictures of the girls in dresses and sent them to them....to let them know it was ok.

The interesting thing, was that Maddie didn't like or agree with Peggy, but was scared that Peggy would turn on her. She regretted her actions.

I love this video.........

http://blog.peacefulplaygrounds.com/2007/11/hero-in-hallway-you-tube-bullying-video.html

I love this web sight that you can get ideas about teaching your kids about bullying.....click HERE
This is just as important as teaching our kids about drugs and alcohol. There are 2 things that any parent doens't want to hear......That your child is being bullied or that your child is bullying someone!!!

This is such a worldwide problem. When I think of bullying and I think of the Prophet Joseph Smith in Carthage Jail, being bullied by people that couldn't accept a new people or religion.
When I think of bullying, I think of Cipher in the Snow. A young man gets off the bus and dies. He is alone and no one knows him or cares about him ( another form of abuse)
When I think of bullying, I think of a Savior that carries his cross to the hill. I think of thorns being placed on his head. I think of nails being driven through his hands and feet. For me. For us.

Cynna Phillips wrote a song and here are some of the words:

I’m not gonna hate,
even if I ache inside
I'm not gonna hurt someone,
even if I'm justified
I'm not gonna lie,
even if I've been deceived
An eye for an eye
is not the life I choose to lead

She goes on to say, "This is the way Jesus asks us to live our lives, and this is what we are trying to do. We extend this message to everyone out there: please forgive those who have hurt you and know that through Jesus and His love for us, His grace and His mercy, we are all forgiven, if we believe that He is our savior."

I hope and pray that if any one has ever felt bullied or intimidated by me that you will take in into your heart and "forgive me" :)

Hey you IF residents.....WADAYA think of this weather?????