List

I stumbled across this list yesterday*. It was created by a young man with Prader-Willi Syndrome who had a New Year’s Wish ‘for people to know what it feels like to have PWS’.

When asked how he could get his wish, he said: “People could do some of the things that I feel every day, just for one day and maybe they would understand.”

It's a real eye-opener.

Here’s his list. If you like - and in the spirit of New Year's Resolutions -  you could pick one or two of the challenges to undertake. Just for a day. See how you cope. And then think about living your life like this. Every day.

1. In the summer, turn up the heat and wear extra clothing or in the winter, wear very little clothing and turn the heat down.

2. Only eat ½ of your meal, breakfast , lunch or dinner and leave the table hungry.

3. Go to an office or school party with all the extra food and goodies before eating lunch and DO NOT EAT ANYTHING! 

4. Put cookies, cupcakes, or other goodies that you like on the counter and be sure to walk by them every time you go in the room but you can NOT eat any!

5. When you are really hungry watch someone else eat something that you LOVE, knowing you cannot have it.

6. Do something out of the ordinary or different in public and look around to see someone stare, laugh or tease you because you are different. 

7. Lock your cabinets or refrigerators and give someone else the key. Tell them to only let you eat when it is meal time or time for a snack. DO NOT eat in between meals. 

8. Restrict your calories to only 1100 calories per day including all meals and snacks. Count all calories including drinks. ONLY eat 1100 calories!

9. Drink only sugar free, diet drinks or water do not drink liquids that contain calories.

10. Never go into the kitchen, pantry or cabinets unsupervised. Only enter the kitchen or dining room if someone else is with you and can be watching what you are doing.

Video is Eels - Guest List

*The list came from an entry by Janis Tull Williams on the Prader-Willi Problem Solving And Solutions Exchange page on Facebook

Discovery

Like some evil plantation owner I’ve been keeping the present-picking slave labour busy at the Amazon warehouse this week.

Several interesting packages have winged their way to us, been parcelled up, and are now stashed in the back of my wardrobe, ready to give the kids on Christmas morning.

But I cocked up. I left one delivery on my desk by mistake. And while I was on the loo, my daughter spotted it, and had a quick rifle through.

When I walked back into the room, she looked distinctly miffed.

“Mummy, I’ve seen The Parent Trap DVD. It’s in that packet.”

‘Bugger, bugger, bugger!’ I thought to myself. ‘How am I going to get out of this one?’.  This gift, you see, was one from her actual Santa List, not one she’d asked me or any other relatives to buy. 

After ticking her off for going through my post (but really, who could blame her?), I muttered something about Father Christmas asking me to get this present for her.

She looked at me oddly, and trudged upstairs to her room. 

Later she presented me with the card pictured at the top of the page. In case the sentence structure confuses you, I'll rearrange it for you:

Dear Father Christmas, can you not get parent trap DVV
because my mum is going to get it for christmas

Also squashed in on the right is the sentence:

but you can get animal crossing wii game.

And there was me thinking I'd finished all my Christmas shopping.

She was adamant that she needed to send the card to The North Pole immediately, but I managed to persuade her that - as it was dark - it was best I posted it for her.

When I tucked her into bed, I found a pile of her earlier drafts (pictured below).

She takes this Santa stuff seriously.

Video is The Electric Light Orchestra - Don't Bring Me Down (from the album Discovery).