There is a judge in South Texas that needs a lesson on child rearing, foster parenting, and being a judge.

I know that things in Texas are different. I lived there for seven years. Respecting your elders is an absolute must and not calling an adult “sir” or “ma’am” is simply not acceptable in the eyes of parents. I don’t disagree with that at all. It is a regional thing though. When I taught my kids to use “sir” and “ma’am” I was accused of running a boot camp in my home, but I don’t think teaching children respect is abusive.

However, the judge Cameron County... more

Over 200 children of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have been returned to their mothers. This still leaves over 200 children in foster care.

The Texas Supreme Court declared that the removal of the children was unjustified since the caller was not a child at the ranch.

I have read many complaints saying that this group is being persecuted because “mainstream Christians” do not agree with the religious beliefs of the FLDS group. Personally, that’s not my issue. The fact that young girls were being forced into marriages... more

There is a news story that left me with my jaw on the floor this morning. This story out of Florida offends me on so many different levels.

A five year old boy was “voted” out of his classroom by his classmates in the style of Survivor members voting each other off the island. This was the teacher’s idea. She said it was her way of correcting the child.

This young boy had to listen to each of his classmates say what they did not like about him, and a 14 – 2 “vote” ejected him from the classroom.

In... more

This story has been big news here in Wisconsin. Just when everyone thought it couldn’t get any more ridiculous, it does.

In the original story, a mother shot her eight year old daughter with a BB gun because the mother’s boyfriend bet the mother $1 that she wouldn’t do it. OK, the intelligence and the common sense of the mother comes into question right away, doesn’t it?

Of course you have the required part of the story of the mother telling... more

Last week I blogged about a disturbing story out of Wisconsin. A twenty-seven year old mother killed her two year old son because voices in her head told her to. At the time the story indicated that the mother, Brenda Thiel, was a government employee.

Call it mother’s intuition, but I had a feeling she worked with children or in social services, and my instincts were right. The Saturday edition of “The... more

There is a new issue coming up for the children that were removed from the polygamy ranch in Texas, and it has the potential to be a rather serious issue.

It seems that there is no documentation readily available that these children have had their normal immunizations.

I know that there is a bunch of controversy over immunizing children because of the potential of mercury in immunizations, but I believe that situation has been taken care of.

Some people may wonder if the children, especially the older children, really need to be immunized and... more

Hot on the heels of the horrible stories out of Wisconsin, I heard a story on the news tonight about a brand new baby found in a dumpster in St. Louis, Missouri.

It seems that a mother dumped her brand new, as in only hours old, into a dumpster. A woman who is believed to be the mother of the baby boy has been found.

The baby was found purely by the grace of God. A man was throwing some lawn clippings into the dumpster when he heard a sound, not knowing that it was a baby.... more

There are three news stories coming out of Wisconsin today that have me angry and sickened.

I have heard all of these stories in the last twelve hours and it makes me wonder about society.

The first story is the most disturbing. A three and a half month old girl was checked into the hospital yesterday and during an exam the doctors discovered two skull fractures. They called the police and social services and the baby’s father was arrested.

Child abuse of any kind is horrible, but child abuse of an infant just really angers me. What is it that... more

I’ve watched a few episodes of The Biggest Loser, but I haven’t been a loyal or dedicated watcher. I struggle with weight loss issues myself so some of the things have gotten my interest, but this one really has.

One of the contestants from Season 2 is a former foster child, and that life is partly what lead to his weight gain.

Pete Thomas started the show at 401 pounds, but that was not his heaviest weight. He “maxed out” at 416. He lost 185 pounds on the show. That is a miraculous loss, especially if you have ever tried losing a few pounds.

Pete’s... more

The children in the Texas polygamy case have been moved to a sports arena. This is one way to keep the children together, which at this point is important for their feeling of safety and security.

Up until today, the mothers of the children had been allowed to stay with them. As of today, mothers may only stay with children five or under. There are both pros and cons to this situation.

On the pro side, these children are scared. They are in a culture completely different from anything they have ever encountered before. Allowing the children to... more