Sunday, April 27, 2014

Sensitive people

http://www.hsperson.com/pages/child.htm
http://www.advice-for-parents.com/2007/11/what-can-i-do-about-my-preschooler-who.html
http://www.advice-for-parents.com/2007/11/my-child-cries-at-everything-part-2.html

Friday, April 04, 2014

St Patrick

10 fun facts to share with your friends!
The most kids know of St. Patrick 's Day is that you must wear green or you'll get a pinch from your friends. Adults see the day as an occasion to celebrate, sometimes with green beer and other assorted alcoholic beverages. However, few really know what they are celebrating or why the holiday is so important, particularly in the Americas.

The following 10 facts may help you to better enjoy this popular holiday.
Saint Patrick in blue vestments.
Saint Patrick in blue vestments.

10. March 17th is when Patrick died.

Saint Patrick is a saint of the Catholic Church, and his holy day is the day of his death, and subsequent entrance to heaven, rather than the day of his physical birth. After spending most of his adult life converting the pagans of Ireland to Christianity, St. Patrick went to his reward on March 17, 461 AD.

9. St. Patrick wasn't Irish.

St. Patrick wasn't Irish, and he wasn't born in Ireland. Patrick's parents were Roman citizens living in modern-day England, or more precisely in Scotland or Wales (scholars cannot agree on which). He was born in 385 AD. By that time, most Romans were Christians and the Christian religion was spreading rapidly across Europe.

8. St. Patrick was a slave.

At the age of 16, Patrick had the misfortune of being kidnapped by Irish raiders who took him away and sold him as a slave. He spent several years in Ireland herding sheep and learning about the people there. At the age of 22, he managed to escape. He made his way to a monastery in England where he spent 12 years growing closer to God.

7. St. Patrick used the shamrock to preach about the trinity.

Many claim the shamrock represents faith, hope, and love, or any number of other things but it was actually used by Patrick to teach the mystery of the Holy Trinity, and how three things, the Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit could be separate entities, yet one in the same. Obviously, the pagan rulers of Ireland found Patrick to be convincing because they quickly converted to Christianity.

6. Legend says St. Patrick drove all the snakes from Ireland.

According to legend, St. Patrick drove all the snakes, or in some translations, "toads," out of Ireland. In reality, this probably did not occur, as there is no evidence that snakes have ever existed in Ireland, the climate being too cool for them to thrive. Despite that, scholars suggest that the term "snakes" may be figurative and refer to pagan religious beliefs and practices rather than reptiles or amphibians.

 5. Patrick's color is blue.

The original color associated with St. Patrick is blue, not green as commonly believed. In several artworks depicting the saint, he is shown wearing blue vestments. King Henry VIII used the Irish harp in gold on a blue flag to represent the country. Since that time, and possibly before, blue has been a popular color to represent the country on flags, coats-of-arms, and even sports jerseys.

Green was associated with the country later, presumably because of the greenness of the countryside, which is so because Ireland receives plentiful rainfall. Today, the country is also referred to as the "Emerald Isle."

4. The Shamrock is not the symbol of Ireland.

The shamrock is a popular Irish symbol, but it is not the symbol of Ireland. As early as the medieval period, the harp has appeared on Irish gravestones and manuscripts. However, it is certain that the harp was popular in Irish legend and culture even well before that period.

Since the medieval period, the harp has represented the nation. King Henry VIII used the harp on coins as early as 1534. Later, the harp was used on Irish flags and Irish coats of arms. The harp was also used as a symbol of the Irish people during their long struggle for freedom. Starting in 1642 the harp appeared on flags during rebellions against English rule. When Ireland became an independent country in 1921, it adopted the harp as the national symbol.

3. There are more Irish in the USA than Ireland.

Well, sort of. An estimated 34 million Americans have Irish ancestry. Some are pure-blood Irish, meaning they or their parents came from Ireland, but many more have mixed ancestry today. By contrast, there are 4.2 million people living in Ireland. This peculiarity has a lot to do with the troubled history of Ireland. During the potato famine in Ireland, millions of Irish left the country for the US. This diaspora of Irish continued throughout much of the 19th century. Great numbers of Irish immigrants filled factories, served as railroad laborers --and even joined the military, sometimes immediately upon stepping foot on American soil! During the US Civil War, entire regiments of troops were comprised exclusively of Irish immigrants.  It wasn't until the economic boom of the 1990s that more Irish stayed in their native country than traveled abroad searching for better opportunities.

2. St. Patrick's Day in the US has a strong political history.

In the mid 19th century, the Irish faced discrimination much like that faced by African Americans. In a few rare instances, prejudice against the Irish was even more fierce! The Irish were culturally unique, Catholic, and because of deplorable conditions in Ireland, flooded into the US in large numbers. They were perceived as a potentially disloyal and were treated harshly. To combat this, the American Irish began to organize themselves politically. By the end of the 19th century, St. Patrick's Day was a large holiday for the Irish and an occasion for them to demonstrate their collective political and social might. While the political emphasis has faded along with the discrimination, the holiday remains ever popular as an opportunity for festivity regardless of one's cultural background.

1. St. Patrick's was a dry holiday in Ireland until 1970.

Aside from the color green, the activity most associated with St. Patrick's Day is drinking. However, Irish law, from 1903 to 1970, declared St. Patrick's Day a religious observance for the entire country meaning that all pubs were shut down for the day. That meant no beer, not even the green kind, for public celebrants. The law was overturned in 1970, when St. Patrick's was reclassified as a national holiday - allowing the taps to flow freely once again.



St. Patrick's Day is dedicated to St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.  Despite popular belief, he did not rid the island of snakes, but did convert many of the Irish people to Christianity.  But who exactly was he? Patrick was born in Britain to wealthy parents, but at the age of sixteen, was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders,  who  took the young man back home with them to be engaged as a slave.  After more than six years as a prisoner, Patrick managed to escape, and according to his writings; God spoke to him in a dream, telling him it was time to leave Ireland.   This meant walking more than two hundred miles, but he eventually made it back to Britain. Not long after, he experienced  a second dream, in which an angel instructed him to return to Ireland as a missionary. He spent the next fifteen years in Religious study, becoming a priest, and then fulfilling the angel's request. He was already familiar with the Irish language and culture so instead of enforcing his own Christian beliefs, he incorporated them into the traditional rituals.  Since the Irish used to honour their gods with fire, he used bonfires to celebrate Easter and drew suns, a powerful Irish symbol, onto the Christian cross to create what is now called a Celtic cross. 

Though he was not the first Christian in Ireland, he became the most influential one, and since it is believed that he died on March 17, 460 CE; that day has been set aside as his Saint's Day. http://www.victoriancanada.com/saint_patrick.html

The cynic might think there's more chance of finding St Patrick's Day celebrations in Shangai than on the Shankill and that Bali will see more wearing of the green than Ballymena.

But, while Protestants here have hardly been the biggest fans of Ireland's patron saint, who they say has been hijacked by republicans, several hundred Orangemen will still be on the march over the weekend on the Shankill and in Ballymena to commemorate St Patrick.
It'll be a drop in the ocean admittedly among an estimated six million people around the world who'll be drowning their shamrocks over a weekend when only a minority of Ulster Protestants will raise a glass to Patrick on what's seen by some as the Catholic answer to the Twelfth of July.
But things are changing. Slowly. And in the past decade a growing number of unionists have started to embrace the saint they once accused Sinn Fein of politicising for their own ends. Especially in Belfast.
For several years in a row there was controversy as nationalists and republicans attending a St Patrick's Day concert and parade in the city centre waved Tricolours in a sea of green which was like a red rag to those of an Orange hue.
Belfast City Council responded by trying to neutralise the carnival – which this year runs for four days – by banning all flags and emblems in a move which encouraged Protestant community groups to join in the festivities.
But the fear this year is that tomorrow's St Patrick's Day pageant could raise tensions if large numbers of Tricolours are used as tools of triumphalism in the city centre where the restrictions on the flying of the Union flag at the City Hall have sparked weeks of often violent protests.
One leading loyalist is pessimistic: "I think relationships have taken a few steps back because the flag and symbols are again to the forefront of our differences. The worry is that the Tricolour may become an issue once more on St Patrick's Day at the City Hall where the Union flag has been the focus of attention for months."
Police are also aware that loyalist flag protesters have been threatening to demonstrate at the City Hall tomorrow which could be a major security nightmare on a day that is supposed to promote harmony and understanding.
The irony of course is that St Patrick – and more specifically his Cross – is part of the Union flag, "so every time we fly the flag we are elevating and lifting up St Patrick," says the loyalist source, reinforcing the conclusion the two sides here have been engaged in a power struggle for ownership of St Patrick.
Sinn Fein Councillor Mairtin O Muilleoir says he believes Belfast's St Patrick's Day is becoming more of a cross-community event. "I don't want to exaggerate it and we're not there yet but it's a testament to this city that there is more of a shared occasion around St Patrick," he said.
Only one politician from the Unionist community has been ever-present at the St Patrick's celebrations in Belfast.
Dr John Kyle, a former chairman of the Progressive Unionist Party has been criticised in some loyalist quarters for his participation especially in the days before flags were outlawed but he has no regrets and will be in the parade tomorrow.
"I am happy to celebrate St Patrick because he's a man to be admired and respected. In terms of the Christian faith I believe Protestants and Catholics owe him a huge debt of gratitude.
"He came to a country and changed it for good and he doesn't belong to either tradition."
Dr Kyle finds the reluctance to take part in the Paddy parties by some Unionist parties hypocritical. "Why is it ok for them to go to St Patrick's Day celebrations in Washington and not to one in Belfast?
"I think unionism undersells itself in terms of its heritage and it needs to stop vacating shared space. We have instead to celebrate our shared history. St Patrick is just as much part of the unionist heritage as the nationalist heritage."
One Ulster Scots organisation – the Ullans Academy – which includes churchmen, politicians and former paramilitaries in its ranks – is trying to bring St Patrick back into the unionist fold.
Each year the academy holds a St Patrick's Day breakfast to which they invite Protestants and Catholics to explore their common bonds with the patron saint.
The former DUP leader Dr Ian Paisley, who regularly attends the breakfast, used the occasion six years ago to call for St Patrick's Day to be declared a public holiday in Northern Ireland.
Wearing a sprig of shamrock, he told me how he admired the saint and preached and wrote about him on a regular basis, describing him as one of the greatest evangelists of all time.
Even at the height of Protestant hostility towards St Patrick his spirit was kept alive, ironically, by the Army.
Its local regiments all received shamrock every March 17, usually from members of the Royal Family under the watchful eyes of a veritable battalion of Northern Irish journalists specially flown in for the event by the Army.
Yet, when the soldiers went back to civvy street, the shamrock and the saint went to the back of their minds.
DUP Assemblyman Sammy Douglas who has hosted the Ullans breakfast in Belfast City Hall says: "I remember the excitement of going to St Patrick's Barracks in Ballymena to see the presentation of shamrocks to my brother and his colleagues in the Royal Irish Rifles."
But that was all there was to the MLA's engagement with the St Patrick's celebrations when he was growing up.
Douglas says Protestant antipathy towards St Patrick is dissipating as they re-claim him as one of their own "after years of seeing Catholics flaunting him as a republican and nationalist icon".
"It's still politicised in many ways. But I do believe things are different now, though it's probably going too far to say Protestants would find it easy to go along to the Belfast celebrations."
Ex-UDA leader Andy Tyrie (left) has been pioneering an initiative to try to correct the misconceptions of the past and as part of it, former PUP leader David Ervine's brother Brian gave talks this month in both east and west Belfast about St Patrick.
He says: "The idea is to explode the myths and legends and I told the two audiences that St Patrick is a candidate for a shared history between our two communities when he is stripped away of his republican appendages and depoliticised, making him acceptable to everyone here."
Ervine, whose wife is promoting the Irish language in east Belfast, is convinced that Protestants will want to learn more about St Patrick if the politics are stripped away. "There's nothing to fear from him or the language," he says.
The Orange Order, however, isn't fully on board the St Patrick bandwagon yet. Its chaplain the Rev Mervyn Gibson says: "I am happy to embrace St Patrick's heritage but not in the narrow nationalist way it has been done recently.
"He has definitely been hijacked but I do think that attitudes have altered over the last 10 years as Protestants try to maybe not to re-claim St Patrick but rather to share him.
"Certainly there's not the same hostility as there was but many Protestants don't buy into the green rivers and the New York parades but it is relevant with the present situation that the cross on the Union flag is the cross of St Patrick."
Just like Protestant churches, a number of Orange lodges take their name from St Patrick. The Cross of St Patrick LOL 688 says its aim is to promote his Christian message.
Five years ago they were approached informally by a councillor to see if they would take part in the St Patrick's Day celebrations in Downpatrick where the saint is said to be buried.
But the idea was a non-starter because the Orangemen were told not to wear their collarettes or carry their banner.
Several years earlier the Orange Order pulled out of a parade in Cork claiming the safety of the small delegation of members who were scheduled to participate couldn't be guaranteed. The order blamed Sinn Fein for hyping up the situation with statements that the Orangemen's presence would be offensive.
Like many Protestants, Mervyn Gibson says that as a youth in Belfast St Patrick wasn't part of his life.
"For me St Patrick's Day was only about the Schools' Cup final and the only march was rugby fans heading up the Ravenhill Road."
However, the director of the St Patrick's Centre in Downpatrick believes more Protestants do want to know more about Ireland's patron saint.
Dr Tim Campbell says: "I work in the field and I know there has been a huge sea-change over the last five or six years of people from a unionist tradition who want to learn about St Patrick and to be more involved in his celebrations.
"They want to find a way of doing that because they don't necessarily want to be associated with a parade that has a lot of flags and bunting in it.
"They want to do it in a family friendly and safe environment. And we believe we have been successful in doing just that in Downpatrick away from all the politics where we can concentrate instead purely on a historical figure."
However, not even Downpatrick which normally attracts upwards of 30,000 people to its cross-community parade has been immune from division.
In 2011 seven primary schools pulled out and unionist politicians walked out after Sinn Fein councillor Eamonn Mac Con Midhe carried a Tricolour at the head of the St Patrick's Day parade.
He said he wasn't supporting Down District Council's 25-year policy of flying the red and white cross of St Patrick which he claimed 'had a military background'
However, Dr Campbell says it's business as usual now in Downpatrick and for the past two years a group called the Friends of St Patrick have held cross community dinners in honour of the patron saint with DUP politicians and Irish presidents attending them.
Tim Campbell says Downpatrick is a lesson for everyone. "We want people to understand that St Patrick was someone from Britain who became the patron saint of Ireland and can be celebrated by everybody.
"We are making inroads at making it all more inclusive. And there's more interest among young people in St Patrick than there has ever been.
"But he needs to be more central in the school curriculum particularly in primary schools. Pupils need to learn more about him as a reconciling figure."
Harder for some people to reconcile however may be the idea of a St Patrick's Day without drink.
Belfast City Council has endorsed the idea of Sober St Patrick's Day championed first in New York by businessman Bill Reilly, who is flying in from the Big Apple for the celebrations here on Sunday.
Council officials are hoping his idea of a drink-free day will catch on in Belfast especially among students.
That could be a tall order. Said one councillor: "It might be harder to banish the booze from the Holylands than it was for St Patrick to get rid of the snakes from Ireland." The spirit of
St Patrick was kept by the Army