Trapper is Waiting for His Very Own Assistance Dog...You Wanna Help?

Dogs are the best. As you all know our daughter Maizie loves dogs. Maizie is Autistic and has a special devotion to dogs and animals of all kinds. Dogs are her favorite. When I told Maizie about a little boy who wants a dog to help him every day she suggested we blog about it on our Dog Park Days blog. What a great idea! Trapper is an autistic three year old boy whose family wants to provide him with a dog that is specially trained to help Autistic children. These incredible dogs can help the child deal with stress and overcome many obstacles faced by autistic children. Even though our dogs are not therapy dogs I have seen how they touch Maizie's life. When Maizie is going into a cyclical vomiting syndrome episode our German Shepherd mix Darwin is always at her side. He guards her bedroom and notifies us when she is sick. The best benefit is the loving relationship Darwin and Maizie have. They are buddies. Considering the social difficulties Maizie has Darwin is a safe friend who is always there for her.

Maizie and I both think that thearpy dogs are a fantastic idea for Autistic children and adults. Please take some time to read about how assistance dogs can help.

If you are interested in helping Tucker be matched with a loving assistance dog please visit his website called 4 Paws for Trapper. Trapper is awaiting a dog through 4 Paws for Ability. As you can imagine training a dog for service is an expensive process and Trapper's family needs some help. You can also assist by purchasing a collar and leash for your special pup at Feline Fido. Read how the Feline Fido store is helping out Trapper HERE.

On a side note, check out other Autism Hub bloggers seen in the list on Left Brain/Right Brain who blogged on the American Academy of Pediatric's Request for families to speak out on vaccines, as seen in this post.

Random Acts of Kindness

Maizie and I signed up for the Bloggers Unite Random Acts of Kindness. We did not plan anything ahead of time but decided to just go about our day and see what random acts we could come up with. Once we were focused on looking for opportunities they seemed to present themselves wherever we went.

Of course considering the weather and Maizie's lack of willingness to walk on snow or ice our options were somewhat limited.

This morning we were pretty much stuck at home waiting for our new counter top to be delivered. Joe and I worked together last night emptying out cupboards and removing the old counter. My parents gave us their old cast iron sink. I love it! Our kitchen sure looks warmer with this new counter and sink. Next we need to install wood flooring. Wahoo. Joe managed to get everything done with no major injuries or cursing. We were gone running errands during most of the work so maybe there was cursing? The world may never know.

By mid morning Maizie and I bundled up and made our way to the library. Everything was pretty well shoveled but Maizie began repeating this phrase wherever we walked, "I'm scared. I'm scared." She holds on to me and acts like we are climbing Mount Everest every time we have snow or ice to walk over. Maizie's sense of balance has always been way off kilter.

I had a few of books on hold. Maizie loves to find our books on hold and put the books in our bin. Next, we move on to see if there are any decent movies to check out. Maizie found a few and was trying to put them in our bin with her mittens on. She began laughing and laughing since she could not grip the movies and kept dropping them.

After that we move on to the children's' book section. Maizie often refuses to pick out the books herself but does enjoy reading whatever I put in the bin. Today she said, "I do not want any books today." I stood there not knowing what to think. I said, "Why?" Maizie said, "I just don't. Please don't ask me again." Okay. We checked out and were on our way.

At Mc Donalds Maizie and I talked about doing our first random act of kindness. I wanted to do something very random. Which, to me meant doing something for someone I did not know and whom I would get no acknowledgment from. So, after we payed for our order we payed for the woman's order behind us.

I explained to Maizie what we were going to do and why. She seemed very confused by this action. When I ask her about it now she thinks I paid the woman who handed us the happy meal and that there is no way I could have paid for another person's meal. I explained to her over and over that I was paying for the ladies meal in the car directly behind us. Maizie kept saying, "No...you paid the lady at the window for MY happy meal and that is it!" I have tried several different ways to explain what we did and Maizie just does not get it. In fact, she gets a bit hostile about it. Oh, well...it was a random act of kindness and I must say that for me it was a total rush. Her meal was not an expensive one but when I glanced back in the mirror and saw the cashier refusing her money I felt a wave of excitement rush over me. I have never done this particular act of kindness before. It was so much fun!

Our next errand was to the post office to mail a letter to our sponsor child in Bolivia. Maizie has been writing her letters for a few years now and we always send something special at Christmas time. I forgot that it is the week before Christmas...the worst time to go to the post office. The line was ghastly. There was a new machine there where you could purchase stamps on your own. About four people were waiting to use it in comparison to the twenty five or so people in the long line. Maizie and I waited patiently despite there being no room to breathe. I thought for sure Maizie would panic but she did well.

Finally, it was our turn. We purchased our two books of stamps and stepped aside to put them on our letter to Marcela. A man was in line behind us. The woman helping with the new machine said, "Sir, what do you need to purchase." He said, "I just need two stamps. Nothing more." I saw his face drop as she said, "I am sorry. You can only purchase books of stamps here. You will need to go to that line over there." She pointed to the line from hell and I thought he was going to cry.

I saw our chance. "Sir. Please take these two stamps." He was thrilled and handed me a dollar to cover them. I said, "No. Our treat today." The guy laughed and said, "Nope. Take the dollar and buy your little girl some ice cream." Before I knew it he had set the dollar bill on the table and was gone. The random act of kindness was refused and somehow reversed. Maizie was totally into this scene and wanted me to repeat what happened several more times before reaching home.

Our final stop was to buy Joe a Chai Latte at Starbucks. This was Maizie's idea of an act of kindness for Daddy. Joe was thrilled with his yummy snack. As soon as we entered the kitchen Maizie said, "Tell him what happened at the post office!" I repeated the story again while Maizie was all grins.

Who knows what the rest of the day will bring. I am sure more opportunities will present themselves to us as the day goes on. I would like to think I am a person who looks for the opportunity to be kind often. I typically think the best acts are those you do in secret but in the spirit of this blogging event I had to share a few. Today is teaching me that there are certainly times when I am probably tuned out to things I could be doing to bring a little kindness to someone else's day. And in doing so I am truly feeling the kindness bouncing right back at me. I love it. Maizie says she has some random acts of kindness planned for me. I can't wait!