Ah, youth,or I digress

I'd like to continue my discussion about brain growth in midlife women and adolescents, but my own brain is a tad fried from participating in the Clark County Student Environmental Leadership Forum today. This was a great environmental education event for teen,s and educators, organized by various organizations including Clark County Solid Waste and NW Service Academy. I went as a parent volunteer with Jacob's high school.

It was interesting to hear the information in these sessions through the ears of teens - a guy who didn't know that mercury is in tuna fish ("wow, they should take that out"), a girl who asks why the harmful chemicals in American shampoo and lotion aren't just banned like they are in other countries. These adolescents don't carry all the assumptions many of us "grown ups" have about society, such as systemic inequality or the perils of unchecked profit. I find it refreshing to watch students start to connect dots. And very cool to be able to help them create action plans to help make the planet a better place.

What I learned today:

- Doing something completely unrelated to being a  mother of a child with special needs can be a breath of fresh air

- A double Americano after lunch is essential when you are sitting in on back-to-back workshop sessions