February 2010 Edition of the Blog Carnival Against Child Abuse!

Welcome to the February 2010 edition of the Blog Carnival Against Child Abuse! This carnival increases awareness of child abuse and allows survivors to connect. This month, we are having the theme of birthdays, since four days from now is my own. Birthdays can be quite emotional for survivors.

Please enjoy the following posts! They have been categorized as the following: Birthday-Themed, Advocacy and Awareness, Aftermath, Art Therapy, Healing and Therapy, In the News, Poetry, and Survivor Stories.

If you, as an author or reader, come across relevant blog posts of merit, please submit them to future Blog Carnivals Against Child Abuse!



Birthday-Themed

IK (me) at Issue Knitting presents Birthday Thoughts. These are just some reflections of my birthday and what the day means and how it has been impacted.

Kate Wiggin at Kate1975's Blog shares Birthday Musings. In this post, Kate captures the various emotions brought on by birthdays, both in the past and the now.

katie at sharing our spaces posts healing the inner child. With the birthday theme, she discusses the movie The Kid, where an unhappy workaholic sees a younger version of himself. Expanding further, she also brings up the book 'Healing the Child Within'. I found this post rather helpful as that book has a lovely list of real self qualities versus the false or codependent self.

From Marj aka Thriver at Survivors Can Thrive! comes A Part Is Born. Marj shares her experience with DID and the birth of alters.

One Survivor at A Survivor's Thoughts on Life reflects with My Sister. This is a reflection of One Survivor's sister, as her birthday approaches.

Patricia Singleton at SPIRITUAL JOURNEY OF A LIGHTWORKER shares Spiritual Journey of a Lightworker: My Mom---The Silent Parent. This is a very touching tribute on her mother's birthday this month.

Rick Belden at poetry, dreams, and the body enters poetry, dreams, and the body » Blog Archive » broken birthday 51. Rick shares, "This poem was written on the morning of my 51st birthday in November 2008. Birthdays have typically been difficult for me throughout my life, but watching myself get another year older while I'm still trying to heal from a childhood that feels farther and farther away from me all the time adds another layer of challenging feelings to the experience."


Advocacy and Awareness

Aaliyah Williams at Masters in Elementary Education provides 9 Blogs About Childrearing Worth Reading. Here is a handy resource about childcare for parents and parents to be.

Dr. Alan Singer at FamilyThinking.com with Dr. Alan Singer writes Better Safe Than Stupid. Dr. Alan Singer remarks, "A parent must assume full responsibility for their child's well-being at all times, from infancy to when the child starts school, and then some. That's why something that I saw recently left an indelible impression on me."

Ekawaaz offers We should Be Ashamed: The Rampant Exploitation Of Children Continues in India. Ekawaaz says, "This Video I had captured 2 weeks ago in Lucknow, the state capital of India’s largest state. What a shame! This video is clearly saying that in India the rampant exploitation of children continues and no one really bothered be it local administration or Government. People do talk about NGO’s do talk about but the reality is that we are not doing enough to end this SHAME."

End Slavery Now at End Human Trafficking submits Saudi Girl, 12, Sold in Marriage to 80-Year-Old Relative. This article brings to light the fact that Saudi Arabia has no minimum age for marriage and how young daughters are sold off to marriage.

Surbhi at The Viewspaper posts Child Sexual Abuse: A Frightening Reality. Bringing India's problem with child sexual abuse up front, this article advocates doing something about this terrible problem that faces many more nations than India. As I check this, it was having an issue loading but is the right URL. I believe they may be having a temporary server glitch.


Aftermath

AM White at From Survivor to Thriver shares Fatherly Confusion « From Survivor to Thriver. This was an important post for AM White's recovery, for she figures out the negative impact of her father. This is certainly a relatable piece.

Colleen at Surviving by Grace writes Is It My Turn To Fly?. Colleen reflects on a lovely song about growth and reaching a point of strength and courage.

cornnut32 at picture of experience gives us cracked: understanding why i act the way i do. From a book about addicts and their rehab, cornnut32 finds insight into how she as a survivor is how she is. I personally found this post rather helpful as I can relate to much of the book's excerpt that she posted.

Lily at Locating My Life reflicts with Please Stop. Lily remarks, "A constant struggle for me, and many survivors. I know I sure could use others insight to help me understand. Hopefully this will help someone else ." This struggle is in regards to cutting, a form of self injury.

Shadowlight offers Forms of dissociative disorder « Shadowlight's Blog. This is a very informative post that illustrates the different forms of dissociative identity disorder.


Art Therapy (To stand on their own, without my interpretation.)

Paul at Mind Parts presents Visual Words. Paul remarks, "I wanted to introduce readers to what they can do with "word clouds"".


Healing and Therapy

Adam at ZenTactics - Child Abuse Recovery submits Healing the Inner Child. This post explains why you should heal your inner child and what may help you with this undertaking.

Cynthia Bland at Voice Found enters speak to your inner child. In this entry, Cynthia recalls a time she comforted her inner child. It's a wonderful reminder of how important re-parenting yourself can be for a survivor.

Dan Hays at Thoughts Along The Road to Healing writes My Inner Child. Dan says, "Informal thoughts about how to help my inner child heal, in response to a question from a friend."

Darlene Ouimet at Emerging From Broken posts The Longing for Family, Love and Self Love. This is a very touching post about rising above an abusive past to a serenity of self-love and acceptance.

Dr. Kathleen Young presents Overcoming Negative Self-Talk. This is a very informative post about negative self-talk and how to deal with it.

From fatgirloreo at OREO comes I Believe In Paying It Forward. She shares her experience with a support group and its final meeting.

JUST BE REAL gives us VENDING MACHINE OF PLEASING. This entry is a wonderful analogy relating vending machines and people pleasing. I really enjoyed this one myself.


In the News

Ekawaaz provides Indias shame: Sexual slavery, the Prostitution Racket and Child prostitutes: Channel 4 Investigation (video). Ekawaaz shares, "While doing some other work and looking for some other video, I came across with this report of Channel 4 and to be honest I was shocked and disgusted to see how the hell this type of force sex slavery is still going on and people involved in are not getting caught? What’s wrong with our system? We want it all, we want to be super power but unfortunately we are not able to protect these kids from this sex slavery trade. God save Indian Kids!"

Regina Scharf at DEEP BRAZIL offers 5 million workers under age « DEEP BRAZIL. This informative article explains that over five million Brazilian workers are under 18, many without pay, and the horrible conditions they must work in.



Poetry (To stand on their own words, not mine.)

Hope at Hope for Trauma posts Clouds & Rain « Hope for Trauma.


Survivor Stories

Jeff Bennett at Secret of a Kiss writes Childhood memories « Secret of a Kiss. This entry recalls sexual childhood memories of the author and their impact on him then and now.

Shen at Reunited Selves reflects with DID and the Fifth Step. Shen relates a moment of clarity she had related to dissociative identity disorder and the holding on to resentments and past experiences.