M&M

throw back thursday!

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-Ask yourself the last time you drank some water. Drink a few sips even if it wasn’t long ago. Coffee doesn’t count (neither does soda unless it’s the only option) 

-When was the last time you ate? Get a small snack if able.

-Are ANY of your clothes too tight or uncomfortable? This includes socks, headbands, hats, and shoes.

-Stretch! Pop those shoulders, arch that back, straighten those legs. It Helps.

-If you happen to stim, do it! Do whatever feels right!

-Look for sounds, smells, etc. That are bothering you.

-Get your headphones and put on whatever music makes you feel happy/good/energetic.

-Loosen your shoulders, take some deep breaths. Drop your head and loosely roll your head. Try to relax as many muscles as you can.

-Close your eyes for a second.

-Did you take your meds (if you have them)? Do you need to take a Tylenol, ibuprofen Etc.?

-Are there allergens in the vicinity, are there any allergy medications you need to take?

-Breath deep.

I am by no means a professional and I don’t know what could be causing it but I know that these are kind of helpful. I’m not you and you aren’t me so these might not work. If the feeling bad is medical attention worthy, these might not help.

•buy toys/dolls/crayons •play with Legos •play old videogames/dress up games •weave friendship bracelets •watch cartoons •use stickers •draw pics of your favorite characters

If it makes you feel nice, do it. Don’t even worry about what other people think, because it doesn’t matter–if it brings you happiness, it’s not “ridiculous”, or “immature”.

“Growing up doesn’t mean you can’t have Zebra Cakes. Growing up simply means that, if you want to have Zebra Cakes, you buy them for yourself.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Bear?” Well, let me explain. For those of you who live outside of the US, this is a Zebra Cake:

It’s a little pre-packaged snack cake that is horribly cheap and junky and really not that great, but it is like manna from heaven to me. I fucking love these things. When I was a little kid growing up, my mom bought Zebra Cakes but once in a blue moon. They were intended to be put in mine and my siblings’ school lunches, but my brother and I would eat them whenever we wanted, so Mom just didn’t see the point. (They also used to be kind of expensive, at least for our family’s budget.) Needless to say, the coveted Zebra Cakes were a luxury for me, and were one of the tastes of my childhood.

Fast forward to my college years. I was living in an apartment with three other people, doing my own shopping and cooking. I was in the grocery store, picking up some stuff, and I happened to walk past a display of snack cakes. Among them were several boxes of Zebra Cakes.

I paused at this, chuckling to myself. Oh man. Zebra Cakes. I haven’t had those in years. I loved those when I was a kid. I reminisced happily and thought about how much I missed the taste of Zebra Cakes, then started to walk away.

And then I stopped dead.

Because I had realized that there was literally nothing stopping me from buying a box of Zebra Cakes. There was nothing stopping me from buying ten boxes of Zebra Cakes. If I wanted Zebra Cakes, I could have goddamn Zebra Cakes, because it was my money and my decision to make.

I put two boxes in my cart (they were 2 for $5) and never looked back.

Here’s the secret I learned that day: The idea of something being “just for kids” is, by and large, bullshit. What you do on your own adult free time with your own adult money is, by its very nature, adult stuff. It’s like comedian Eddie Izzard (who frequently performed his routines in drag) once said when someone asked about him wearing ‘women’s clothes’: “They’re not women’s clothes. They’re my clothes. I bought them.”

I am 25 years old, and yesterday I bought myself a shark lunchbox. Look at it. Look at how awesome my lunchbox is.

Was this lunchbox intended to by bought for and used by a child? Yes. The tag said it was for ages 3 and up. But it was bought by and will be used by an adult, and anyone who thinks that’s wrong is probably just jealous that they don’t have the self-confidence to rock a shark lunchbox at 25.

Best. Decision. EVER. I write with gel pens exclusively now and I have no regrets. I love picking a new color when I write. I feel so much joy choosing between glitter, metallic, neon, and pastel pens.

[Image #1: drawing of a shark. Caption: “I used to be obsessed with the small things I might have done if I weren’t sick, things like dance with somebody or go to the beach with friends. Technically, I could still do them. I’m not well enough to do as much as the average person, but I can still do things. But people stopped inviting me when I got sick. Even the ones who still wanted to talk to me stopped treating me normally unless they were sick too.”]