Author: wellthy

The older I get the less I like about birthdays. My 69^th birthday is right around the corner.  Sixty-nine has always been my favorite number so I should really be excited about being 69 years old for a full year, but I’m not.  

When we are kids, we got excited about birthday parties, presents and the new privileges that came with age.  At 69, there are almost no presents.  Presents are for kids.  Parties were fun when we lived in Long Grove.  Friends spent the day at our pool and the grill ran continuously.    In North Carolina, the grill still provides scrumptious eats; but there is no pool and friends are 100s of miles away.

The privileges that came with age years ago are now going away.   Yep, as a doctor, I witnessed the degradation that comes with the aging process.  Now, I’m witnessing this as a patient. So far, I’ve been lucky.  I’m still independent and able to drive safely.  As my Parkinson’s worsens, my ability to remain independent is threatened.  My hearing is going so I have hearing aids.  My vision is going so I have glasses.  My arthritis is worsening and my back sucks.  Despite all of the losses, I still function relatively well.  (There is one significant gain with age: weight!)

Unlike my father, I have dressing aids, including a dressing stick, stocking donner (assist putting on socks), and leg lifter strap.  I have a handicapped ready house with rails in the shower and crapper.  The one thing I need most, new effective medications, still doesn’t exist.  I’m on the same medications my father was on 30 years ago.

The hardest loss to deal with is the loss of the ability to drive.  I’m glad to announce that my driving skills are still excellent (I’m much more cautious).  My years practicing medicine taught me how to evaluate a patient’s ability to drive and how to decide when it was time to take away a person’s right to drive.  It also taught me how emotionally devastating it is to lose your license. 

When it comes to taking away the car keys, men are by far the worst.  Patients, who I cared for over 25 years, would curse me and transfer their care to another doc.  These same patients would fight with their wives and family, insisting that they were good drivers despite the fact that no sane person would get in the car with them.  If you are dealing with an elder who is not safe behind the wheel but still insists on driving, you should refer them to a driving assessment course at your local rehabilitation center. You should also sell the car or store it off premises.

When it’s my time to quit driving, I won’t put up a fight.  I’ll UBER.

My generation is lucky to have UBER.  Uber will allow me to maintain my independence and dignity. The older we get the smarter we need to be if we are expected to enjoy living.  Losses are inevitable so it is of paramount importance that we recognize/admit to the losses and look to technology to help overcome our lost functions and keep us functional.

Of course, there will always be losses that can’t be overcome, Alzheimer’s being one.  I think the saddest thing in the world is watching someone you love slowly drift away as their memory leaves them.  Often, all that is left is an empty shell and misery.  I’ll address Alzheimer’s in a future article but, for the purposes of this article, know that I think we keep bodies alive way too long, ensuring that they are miserable and their families are miserable.

As for me, I will make the best out of what abilities I have left with one exception.  If I’m no longer able to enjoy life or really only the shell that used to be Doc Segal, then send me away, but not to a nursing home!  Send me to meet God.  (I’ll delve into my thoughts about euthanasia at a later date.)

Here’s today’s music and a joke.

You Know You’re Middle Aged If…

• You’ve come to the annoying realization that your parents were right about almost everything.
• The bag boy volunteers to help load groceries into your car—in the “ten items or less” lane.
• You’ve stopped supporting your children and started supporting your parents.
• You’ve found yourself discussing rain gutters.
• You remember your kid’s names, just not always the right one.
• You have nightmares about forgetting to move the garbage cans to the street for the garbage collector.
• Your high school yearbook is now home to three different species of mold.
• You buy “age-defying” makeup and “antiwrinkle” creams and believe they work.
• You’ve realized that all those geeky people in Bermuda shorts walking around Disney World include you.
• You recognize Led Zeppelin songs that have been turned into elevator music.
• As a public service, you have agreed to never appear on the beach in a Speedo again.
• You’ve had three opportunities to buy every single Disney Animated Classic—“for the last time in a generation”
• You’d pay good money to be strip-searched.
• Wal-Mart and target seem to share your fashion sense.
• The only way you know to stop a virtual pet from beeping involves the patio and a sledgehammer.
• You can pack two suits, Five shirts, five ties, five pairs of underwear, five pairs of socks, a pair of shoes, and half of your bathroom into a carry-on bag—in less than five minutes.
• You know what Earth Shoes are.
• You think if you hear “Stairway to Heaven” one more time your head will explode.
• Your weight-lifting program seems to have no effect on your muscles, but the veins on the backs of your hands are bulking up quite nicely.
• On Saturday night, when your wife mentions “hot oil, a little friction, and squealing,” you tell her you’ll have the car looked at first thing Monday morning.

Anonymous author

Here’s an interesting premise for you.  A group of people decide not to follow the guidelines for prevention of infection and spread of Covid-19. They decide that the chances of getting Covid-19 are about the same as that of being struck by lightning. They ignore the fact that only 4 individuals in the US have died from a lightning strike this year and feel just in their decision not to wear masks or keep social distancing.

There are many different opinions about the risk of infection and how that risk should be handled.  There are those who believe it is a hoax or that the figures are skewed by the media/government/doctors/pharma or whichever group is under fire today.  Then there are the scientists, who despite their differences, have formulated guidelines to try to keep us safe.

‘

For the sake of not arguing, I’ll give you all the excuses and say they are right, with one exception: It’s not a hoax.  I still have one question.  Would you stand outside in the midst of a thunderstorm?

I don’t think so!  Walking around without a mask, gathering together in large social venues (where a 6-foot safety zone can’t be maintained) and not properly washing your hands are like standing outside holding a lightning rod in the midst of a lightning storm.

Yep, you’ve got rights.  So, do what you are going to do, just don’t do it around me.  I may be ready to die but not the Covid-19 way.  The Covid-19 way is to die all alone, surrounded by strangers in white coats with tubes, lots of tubes!  Tubes to be stuck everywhere.  It’s definitely not my cup of tea.  

Please realize that, if you are wrong and you get Clovid-19 despite never having been struck by lightning, you put your entire family and their friends at risk.  (Old people always have to hit you with a little guilt!)

Enough said.

I was going to tell you that my 4^th was a bust when I realized it was not a bust.  I spent the whole day with Renee and that makes it a precious day.   Thanks for putting up with me.

Here’s a song and a little humor.

I never thought I could hate the 4^th of July, but I do.  My first 4^th of July in Long Grove was unexpectedly phenomenal!  My house sat in the middle of a farmer’s corn field.  We were the first and only house in the development.  We set up chairs, coolers and fireworks (from Wisconsin) when an unbelievable event occurred. 

The sky lit up! We had a 360-degree view of every surrounding villages’ fireworks.  My God, it was awe inspiring.  In the middle of this spectacular show, we heard a loud explosion in our back yard.  We ran (we were young) towards the sound.  What we found completed the night.  For the next 30 minutes, we witnessed a professional display of fireworks in our back yard.

Thanks to a nearby by country club, we have had our private viewing of 4^th of July fireworks ever since.  4th of July became a three-day pool party with games, swimming and a continuously running grill.  Parties always ran into the early am hours and often we had 20 kids sleeping in the basement.

NOT THIS YEAR!  This year two things are ruining the 4^th.  Clovid-19 has put an end to parties, as well as fireworks.  Can you imagine having a pool party with red tape demarking 6-foot safety zones that only one only family can occupy?  I can’t.

Of course, living in a senior community in North Carolina makes partying by my pool in Long Grove impossible.  Unfortunately, my new community’s pool is not close to being completed.  Renee and I will spend the day on our porch eating holiday food and trying to bolster each other’s spirits while missing our friends and Long Grove home. 

I suspect that this year’s fourth is going to be the first of many private celebrations as the world really has changed.  In previous articles, I have discussed forming PODS of individuals who practice the same precautions as you do.  Yesterday, my daughter pointed out the fallacy of my plan.  Renee and I had to get our licenses and licenses plates transferred to NC.  We also had to establish a bank account.

That’s three trips into the public and three opportunities to contract Clovid-19.  Lisa pointed out the fact that, if we were in a POD, we’d have to go into isolation for 2 weeks, temporarily banning us from our POD.

I’ve been working hard at staying positive.  Today, I’m going to have to work extra hard.  So, I’m going on a NO NEWS fast.  I’m going to call friends, reminisce about prior 4ths and enjoy Renee’s company.  Who knows, perhaps I can light her fuse.  In the old days, we could have an indoor fireworks display.

Renee?

Here’s your music and jokes. 

What do you call a duck who likes fireworks? A firequacker!

Looking back in time, it seems like science fiction of the past has become the reality of today.  Does it seem that way to you?  Remember the HAL 9000 computer in “2001, A Space Odyssey”?  ALEXA, need I say more.

Yesterday, I could have sworn I was starring in a bad Sci-Fi movie.  There were people in masks, masks with face-shields, face shields alone and fancy cloth face coverings with monstrous-like adornments.  Of the people not wearing masks, there was one standout who wore a mask-like structure on his elbow.  He was cool (NOT)!

Renee stood in line at the NC License Plate Office (while I waited in a boiling hot car) where she tried to maintain social distance.  The state office worker responsible for keeping order, in the line, kept bunching people up, even when there were markers on the floor.  The whole thing was ridiculous and, from a distance, looked like a horror movie.  

Now, everybody seems to have a different opinion about what we should do.   Some are hyper paranoid, anointing themselves with antiseptics on a regular basis and wearing total body condoms while others are acting like it’s a joke. Personally, I’m looking out for Zombies! 

Yep, look around you.  The world has radically changed in just a few short months.  People are worried and scared, as they should be, but life is full of risk and we take risks every day. We also take precautions to mitigate those risks.  My fear of Zombies is nowhere as bad as my fear of shutting down America again.  Zombies I can deal with.  Bankrupting America, I cannot!

The jerks that ignore the new rules of society, masking and keeping a 6 foot or more personal space, are not going to kill me.  I’m going to run from them as fast as my feet can carry me (that’s actually pretty damn slow).  They are going to kill themselves and their loved ones. Let them, but don’t let them force another shut down!

Of paramount importance is getting the kids back to school.  This morning I came across a document from the American Academy of Pediatrics that stresses the need for kids to physically be in school.  I’ve hyperlinked to that article.  I agree that, while it places our kids at some risk, the risk of not being in school outweighs the risk of being in school.  Certainly, proper precautions must be developed and instituted to lessen the risk of infection. 

So, keep an eye out for Zombies, wear your mask, wash your hands, keep your distance and get your kids back to school.  Covid-19 has disrupted our lives.  It has turned the world upset down.  Let’s right the world for our kids now!  Otherwise, I fear that social isolation combined with a failed education system will lead to a future worse than any witnessed in the Sci-Fi world of yesterday or today.

Here’s today’s music video and a joke.

Are you wearing your mask?  I hope so!  As usual, there are a multitude of attitudes about wearing mask ranging from the guy I saw yesterday who was masked while driving his car to the women I saw in Food Lion who glared at everyone, daring anybody to say a word about her not wearing a mask.  There are people who will tell you there is no proof that masks help and those who will quote the latest research and data.  I’ll tell you that if there is even a small chance that mask work, you should wear a mask.

ZdoggMD did an excellent 3-minute podcast yesterday debunking some of the misconception surrounding wearing mask. Click on the underlined text to view that podcast. I couldn’t have said it better.

Please learn to put your mask on properly.  Click on the underlined words to watch s short instructive video.

Here’s your song of the day and a joke or two.

What’s the difference between a G-spot and a golf ball? A guy will actually search for a golf ball!

Why does it take 100 million sperm to fertilize one egg? Because they won’t stop to ask directions.

Does it ever feel like the world is conspiring against you?  Does it ever feel like if you didn’t have bad luck, you’d have no luck at all?  Does it ever feel like you just can’t win?

I’m taking a poll.  I really want to know if these are universal feelings or if I’m just screwed up.  My hypothesis is that these, in fact, are universal feelings and that healthy individuals get over them fast.  On the opposite side, I believe that depressed and emotionally labile individuals live with these feelings.

Why is this important?  Quite frankly, it’s important because I woke up this morning convinced that the universe hates me.  Yes, Covid-19 has gotten to me.  The move has gotten to me.  Parkinson’s has gotten to me!  Right now, life sucks.

Yesterday, my dear friend sent me pictures of my home in Long Grove.  I’ve been trying unsuccessfully to sell it but buyers are scarce and looking for an open floor plan, so it remains on the market.  Yesterday’s pictures were heartbreaking.  New water pipes are being installed in the neighborhood and my front lawn and driveway have been excavated.  

In the end, new water pipes will be a good thing, but for the next month I fear it makes my house unsellable. I never expected to have two houses; but I do, and it is a burden.  Parkinson’s is enough of a burden; I didn’t need another problem. So, given the circumstances of my life, what do I do?

It’s easy, I write about it!  Writing about this is like puking up a bunch of bile. It’s miserable when you are puking but feels better once you’ve vomited it all up.  If I was a betting man, I’d bet that the vast majority of my readers answered yes to the questions above.  I’d also bet that each of us has our own way of cleansing ourselves of these feelings. 

Cleansing yourself is important.  If you don’t realize that you are no different from everybody else and put an end to feeling persecuted, worsening depression sets in and you can spiral into abject misery.

The point of this article is that you need to review and shore up your coping mechanisms.  Covid-19, social unrest and whatever the next crisis is are going to keep impacting us and how we handle the emotional strain of life is directly related to how happy or depressed we are.

I woke up this morning convinced that the universe hates me.  I no longer feel that way.  In writing this, I remembered that yesterday afternoon a friend/patient sent me an air fryer cookbook, just because.  I remembered that Bruce, one of the most remarkable people I’ve ever met, called to check on me.  Bruce has a book of positive sayings that he has accumulated over his lifetime.  I kept a copy of that book in my office and used to pull hopeful sayings out of the book to share with people in need.  Bruce is sending me a new copy.

Yesterday, I spent the day with my granddaughter.  She showered me with love and smiles. Nothing is more cleansing than a child’s unconditional love.  I’ll spend next week with my grandson.  Turning to family and friends for support, during trying times, is healthy.

Talking about family and friends, my most valuable weapon against depression is the love of my life, Renee.  Waking up next to her every morning and going to sleep next to her every night can get me through anything.  Yes, she edits these articles, and yes, my usual motive behind mentioning her in glowing words is trying to get lucky, but this time it’s simply to say, “I love you and everything will be fine.”

Here’s your music for today and a joke.  

I love everyone. Some people I love to be around, while some of them are people who I love to avoid. And then there are some who I would love to punch in the face.

,Love is getting mad at someone, telling that person to go to hell, and hoping that they get there safely.

SEX IS THE ONE TOPIC THAT ALMOST NOBODY WRITES ABOUT. YET WHEN I MAKE SEXUALLY ORIENTED REMARKS IN AN ARTICLE, MY STATISTICS SHOW THAT MY READERSHIP GOES UP AND MY REFERRALS INCEASE AS WELL.  SO, IF YOU’RE OFFENDED BY SEXUAL MATTERS, STOP READING NOW.

Did you notice the all cap, bolded print above?  I think my keyboard got excited about the topic.  Why don’t more people write about sex? The obvious answer is that, even in our open/liberal society, talking about sex is still taboo.  I suspect that the real answer is that the majority of people aren’t sure they’ve got it right! 

Over the 40 years I practiced, I learned that everything sexual is normal for somebody.  Yep, we all have different beliefs, rituals, turn “ons” and turn “offs,” fantasies and libidos.  Most of us never get comfortable with our own sexuality, so how do we expect a partner/significant other/spouse to be comfortable with our needs and how are we expected to be comfortable with their needs? 

Libido is the trickiest of all the issues listed above.  Libido is not a stable entity, being affected by many variables.  My practice taught me that God really does have a sense of humor.  I’ve found that, in the majority of cases, if the male’s libido is high, the female’s libido is low.  I would estimate that 98% of the time, male libido is high and female libido is low.  Strangely, when female libido is high, male libido is generally absent.  

I suspect that there are major reproductive and social reasons for the imbalance between male and female libido.  In order to guarantee the survival of our race, males need to impregnate females which means females need to attract males.  So, at some point in time, libidos have to rev up and coincide with your partner.  Correct?

Yep!  It works well at the onset.  However, if Renee’s libido continued to match mine, we’d never leave the house.  There would not have been a Lake Zurich Family Treatment Center, there would not have been money to buy food and I would have happily died at home from starvation, but I WOULD HAVE DIED WITH A SMILE ON MY FACE.

Remember the article I wrote about balance.  Sex is one of those things that require a carefully orchestrated balancing act.  Unfortunately, talking about it is taboo, leaving many couples stranded and stressed.  Since they can’t talk openly about it, they suffer in silence, sometimes leading to needless divorce.

Believe it or not, the longer you are married the harder it is to discuss sex.  What do you think?  Is it time to talk honestly and establish a happy balance with your loved one?  Is it time to demystify the taboos that haunt you?

It appears the LGBTQ has started a healthy conversation about sexuality.  Shouldn’t the straight community do the same?  My answer is obviously yes!

Here’s a true story to illustrate my point.  The story is an amalgamation of many patients’ stories in order to comply with privacy rules. John when in the office for a minor cold.  The cold was so minor that, at first, I couldn’t figure out why he was there.  John was fairly quiet and withdrawn.  I asked John if something else was going on and he quickly said,”NO!”  As he was leaving, he said, “Can I ask you an embarrassing question?”  I assured him that there was nothing I hadn’t heard, and, in the exam room, there was no conversation that was out of bounds.

“Doc, I’m dating a beautiful, loving, young innocent girl who I think I want to marry.”

Me- “Congrats!  That’s fantastic! So, what’s the problem?”

“Doc, when we’re making love she does something really weird.  Don’t get me wrong, I love it but don’t think it’s right.”

Me – “Take your time. So, you love it but not sure that’s it’s right.  Why wouldn’t it be right?  Can you tell me what “It’ is?

“Doc, she puts her finger up my butt, presses on something and I orgasm.  Have you ever heard about anyone doing that before?”

I assured John that prostate massage was a fairly common act between consenting adults and that it was non-harmful and often males found it pleasurable.

John married his beautiful, loving, young innocent girl and just celebrated their 20^thanniversary.  They have three beautiful children. Had John not discussed his feelings with me and branded her behavior “taboo’” he might have broken up with her, forever changing his life.

Here’s today’s music and a joke or two. Doc

Doc – I’m so sorry to tell you that you have a fatal illness and only have 10 to live.

Patient – Ten what? Days? Months? Years?

Doc – 9.10? 10 what? Months? Weeks?!” Doctor: “Nine.”

I just got a message from one of my computer programs.  The program cleans my hard drive, dumping useless files and freeing up space for future computations. The message read, “It’s time to clean your hard drive.” I told Renee my hard drive needed cleaning and she laughed at me.

Seriously, wouldn’t it be nice if humans had programs they could run that cleaned their brains of useless data, stressors, emotional garbage and a vast trove of long-ago issues that we carry around with us for questionable reasons? Would you be surprised if I told you we actually have the programs we need to cleanse our brains, most of us just have not activated them?

Yep, not only should we identify these programs, but we should activate them and use them often:

1. Exercise – So, you never thought of using exercise to cleanse our brains of junk.   If you exercise, you know that regular workouts decrease your stressors, both physical and mental.  A routine exercise program can release endorphins, giving you energy and an emotional boost.  So, if you don’t exercise, start.  If you exercise regularly, never quit.
2. Guided Imagery/Meditation – Meditation before medication should be our national motto.  Everybody has the ability to meditate built into their brains.  They just don’t understand how meditation could possibly help, nor how to activate it.  “Doc, that’s a bunch of hippie/yuppy/millennial crap,” was something I heard daily. Unfortunately, you really can’t appreciate the benefits of Guided Imagery until you’ve actually done it.  Belle Ruth Naperstak holds the key to activating your own abilities.  Click Here!
3. Counseling – Think of your counselor as belonging to The Geek Squad at Best.  If you can’t figure out how to install or use your newest computer programs, call The Geek Squad.  For a few bucks, they’ll get you all set up and ready to work.  While your counselor will cost more than a few bucks, helping you cleanse the crap in your brain should be well worth it.
4. Medication – There are medicinal activators that can help optimize your brain function.  I’m on a medication called Sinemet. Sinemet activates areas of my brain that otherwise would become dormant due to my Parkinson’s.  

When you buy a program that cleanses your hard drive, many times you will end up with a suite of programs that not only cleanse your drive but also optimizes its functions and helps prevent viral attacks.  When you are dealing with your brain, I recommend the suite of programs (1-4) above.

My literature suggests that depression is on a sharp rise.  Stress related illness is on a sharp rise. Spousal and child abuse is on a sharp rise.  Cleansing your brain of stressors and old junk is not going to be easy but the benefits should be phenomenal and, perhaps, blunt the rise in emotional distress that’s haunting most of us.

Here’s your music and a joke of one liners..

Laugh and the world laughs with you.  Snore and you sleep alone.

“Today I’m wearing a lovely shade of I slept like crap so don’t piss me off!”

W.C.Fields – The only time that most women give their orating husbands undivided attention is when the old boys mumble in their sleep.

Are you full of shit?  When I was young, FOS meant something completely different than it is now.  Now, FOS is a literal term and means you are constipated.  The older I get, the more my conversation revolves around the morning “dump.”

Today, you get your joke early.  Three old guys are sitting at the breakfast table in the nursing home.  The first guy says makes those “grandpa sounds,” oye, oye, oye, I can’t shit.  I sit on the toilet for an hour, straining to get out a few little pellets.  It’s horrible.  The second guy says he can poop just fine.  He just can’t piss.  He says he stands over the toilet and pushes and strains for an hour and finally he pees a little all over the toilet.  The third guy laughs and says he pees and poops fine.  He just does it an hour before he gets up.

As a young doctor, I knew this joke was true but found it hilarious nonetheless. I no longer think it is hilarious and am living proof that it’s real.  There are lots of reasons for constipation.  There are dietary, disease state, medication and mechanical reasons. Sometimes, the cause is multifactorial.  My constipation is a direct result of the Parkinson’s and the medications for Parkinson’s.  I’ll cover urinary problems in a future article.

So, what do you do about constipation?  The first thing is to make a joke out of it.  Believe it or not, relaxing can help and laughing at constipation is better than crying.  Afterall, potty jokes are some of the first we learn.  The older we get, the more child-like we get.  If we live long enough, we will all be back in diapers.  Luckily, my generation has sexy diapers as seen in TV commercials.

Dietary changes are tricky.  What constipates one person gives another person diarrhea.  My advice is to play with your diet, observing what your response to various foods.  Greasy foods, as well as foods high in fiber, often help.

Next on the list is pharmaceutical.  There is an entire row of products for constipation in every pharmacy in the US.  I usually recommend a bulk fiber substance like Metamucil as a starting point.  If that fails, I’ll recommend a product named polyethylene glycol (Miralax) to be taken daily.  I’m not a big fan of oral laxatives as they often cause diarrhea.

Probably the best tool in the medicine cabinet is a glycerin suppository.  Inserted anally, it almost always produces a stool you can be proud of in under an hour.  Convincing a patient to use a suppository is not easy.  It seems that touching your anus ranks right up there with first degree murder. GET OVER IT!  If you can muster the intestinal fortitude to insert one, you’ll realize how easy it is.

I would be remiss in my “dooties” if I didn’t remind you to see your doc before starting any medications for diarrhea.  If you haven’t had a colonoscopy recently, you may need one.  Assuming that your exam is all normal and everything discussed above has failed, you may need an oral laxative.  Your doc can discuss the use of oral laxatives with you.

Here’s your song of the day.  I had no idea there were so many songs on poop.  Here are a couple of extra songs to make you smile.

https://youtu.be/U3iOmhIIc_s    https://youtu.be/Vtq1XV6ZVOc

What did one fly say to the other?  “Is this stool taken?”

The following comment was posted on this site in response to my CRS article: 

Yep, my CRS is stress related because there is NO way to make life normal for my Special Needs child…. for the 199th time today… “no you can’t go back to work.” “NO you can’t swear, beacause if this Covid 19”, “No I don’t know the answer to that.” “Stop asking, I don’t know” Yep I have CRS! I am inundated with “Why”, “Why Not” “When can I”, “No I won’t”….. only God knows if I really have CRS but right now it’s my lifeline to sanity to say “I CAN’T REMEMBER when I KNEW the answer for my child. . , Yep my form of CRS is hopefully situational… or God forbid my new Normal….. 

Stress is certainly a cause of CRS, and we are all stressed.  Covid-19 has impacted the lives of everyone I know.  The degree of impact is based on many factors.  The degree of impact is directly related to how good your coping skills are.  Unfortunately, no one ever taught you how to deal with stress, depression and hardship.  In the case referenced above, my friend is trying to cope with the stress of having special needs man-child who has no coping skills.

Special needs kids and their parents need as much support and understanding from the communities they live in as they can offer.  Covid-19 has hit these families particularly hard.  Special needs individuals do best when given set routines that they can depend on and give them a source of pride.  Covid-19 has deprived them of work programs, educational programs and religious activities that provide for their needs.

Parents have also been hit particularly hard as they now have to spend close to 24 hours a day providing and caring for their special need’s child. In a previous article, I reviewed the importance of asking “why.”  Children go through a “why” stage of childhood when almost every question involves “why.”  Most children grow out of the “why’ stage.”  Unfortunately, many special needs children don’t.

So, what can we do to help our special needs children and their parents?  Frankly, I don’t have an answer.  I can offer the following advice.  If you know someone with a special needs child, ask their parents what you can do to help.  Can you give the parents a little time off by sitting with their child a few times a week (create a routine)? Do you have an activity or job that the special needs child could safely do?  Again, If you have the time or skill set necessary to work with special needs kids, offer to help.

There is a lot of discussion about regarding changes in our educational system.  I have always felt that coping skills should be taught in our undergraduate educational system.  In grades 1-4, students should learn about themselves and how to live with themselves.  The questions they need to answer are many, such as, “Who am I?” “Why is my hair curly when I want it straight?”  “Why am I short?”

In grades 5-7, students should learn to answer, “Who are you?  You’re different from me.  How do I get along with you? How do I work with you?”

In grades 8-10, the question asked should be, “Who are they and how do I work with them?”

In grades 11 and 12, the question should be, “Who we and how do we cope with the world we are entering?

I catch a lot of flak from those who believe these issues should be dealt with at home, not in school, yet they have no education in child psychology.  When questioned about their own answers to the above questions, they often reverse their opinions and start actively learning everything they can to help their children answer the same questions.  

Here’s your music and a joke or 2.

Did you hear about the constipated accountant? He couldn’t budget, so he had to work it out with a paper and pencil.  (This reminds me of my trip to Italy.  I’ll have to write about it some day.)

How is life like toilet paper? You’re either on a roll or taking shit from someone.

Why is diarrhea hereditary? It runs in your genes!