Carnival Against Child Abuse April 2009

Wow, what great response for April’s edition! Between the new submissions and the folks who had submitted posts past the March deadline, we have over 30 posts for you all to peruse, chock full of insight, emotion, sharing,  ideas, and many other things! With so many submissions, let’s get right into them!

First, a few posts directly related to our theme for this month, rebirth and renewal

Patricia Singleton shares with us that Incest Is One Of My Stories including some details about that being the Winter of her life and looking forward to the Spring.

Nancy Richards wrote early in the month of April, explaining how Sometimes, We Must Die to the Old to be Born to the New.

Leah posted a short, but sweet, thought about Passover – a Time of Renewal and how paying attention to her inner self has brought peace.

Enola shared a music video, lyrics and her own thoughts with Free to be Me – A Re-birth of Sorts.

Lastly, I reached way back into 1998 to discover something I had written about a new day starting at Midnight.

Advocacy & Awareness

Noe submitted a post called Difficult Child or Difficult Parent? adding “Difficult parents with way too big expectations from their children – another reason for child abuse”

Cornnut32 shared information in the wake of the school shooting in Germany in Info that could save you life, or the lives of your children.

Speaking of schools, in a completely unrelated context, Diane Beeler talks about Kids in School: Getting an Education Plus a Beating.

While we’re talking about discipline, Ian Peatey also submitted an article for parents from the Quantum Learning blog, When Smacking Seems the Only Option.

Concerning Kids sent us some great information on How to Handle a School Yard Bully as well as advice for dealing with picky eaters, which I know my parents could have used!

Kate Beem started out Child Abuse Awareness Month asking What will you do to help prevent child abuse?

Also on the topic of Child Abuse Awareness Month, rollyocampo sent in
April is National Child Abuse Awareness Month (Families and Communities United in Fighting a Menace That Knows No Borders) adding that it was a “real privilege to make this submission to the carnival against child abuse. Thanks for the opportunity!” The thanks should, of course, go to Marj, who started this whole thing!

Speaking of Marj, she sent in her own post, complete with a poem commemorating this month being Child Abuse Prevention month, and National Poetry Month, titled Oh The Discomfort of Child Abuse.
Nancy sent a second entry titled Healthy vs. Unhealthy Relationships full of all sorts of good relationship information for survivors, and anyone else!

Abyss2hope adds this to her submission “I debunk a common excuse for the criminal justice system’s failures related to survivors.”, which she does with If Rape Victims Are Only Witnesses Then Murder Victims Are Only Forensic Evidence

Maryanncp reminded us back on March 27 of an often overlooked area of child abuse, Today is International Free the Slaves Awareness Day

Speaking of overlooked areas, Filipinamom writes to remind us of the Many Faces of Child Abuse.
Aftermath

Saving Grace wrote eloquently about the aftermath of abuse in her post Gates of Hell

Healing & Therapy

Kellevision sent in a post written last year about Remembering Sexual Abuse which gives some examples of when adults are more likely to remember the things they’ve buried deep in the past.

Dr. Deb reminds us that In Treatment is back with new episodes on HBO, as a psychologist specializing in trauma and depression, and a fan of the show, I’m going to guess she feels that it’s a very realistic portrayal of therapy. 🙂

Tamara has begun a series on Chakra on her blog, and sent in her explanation of how the First Chakra is Effected by Trauma and Abuse

Cornnut32 is back a second time, sharing her own thoughts on healing our battered lives with Touch of the Master’s Hand.

Buffalopine talks about the “dance of healing” in It’s a Dance.

April Optimist tells us “When we challenge our assumptions and rewrite the stories we tell ourselves we have, in a sense, a chance to be reborn with new possibilities for who we can be and what our lives can be like.” Take a look at what she says about Assumptions.

Poetry

Rainbow submitted a poem dedicated to this month’s theme, Renewal of Life, which is a beautiful title on and of itself!

Rick Belden sent us a poem for April, simply titled easter

Austin wrote some intriguing verse as well, A Light Left On

Jumping in Puddles was rather prolific, sending in two poems, Invisible Child and Sold. Be warned that they can be triggering.

Survivor Stories

A brand new Blogger, Broken, sent in her first post Through The Darkness, go and check out her blog and welcome her to the blogosphere!

SwordDanceWarrior sent in a post talking about her thoughts after a women’s spirituality conference in Maiden Revisited.

Finally, Colleen sent in a great story, Someone Listens to My Story.

Whew! That took some effort to get posted, but you won’t hear any complaints from me about that. I love having this many entries to read, ponder, and ultimately share with the community! Looking forward to next month already!