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

While I feel horribly for Mr. Walker and the difficulties he has surely had, I am glad that he has disclosed his illness and what this can potentially do for our kids.

Hershel Walker was a professional football player for the Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants. When we lived in Dallas, my husband worked at a grocery store near the Dallas Cowboys offices, Valley Ranch. Mr. Walker would come into the grocery store while my husband was working. When I told him this news tonight he was surprised.

Mr. Walker suffers from Dissociative Identity... more

Sammy called for his twice weekly phone call. He had a pretty deep question that is a tough one even for adults.

The center that Sammy is in is Christian based, which ranks high on the plus side for me. His call had much to do with a deeply theological question, but at the same time it’s a tough question for kids who have been through what our kids have.

Sammy asked me why I don’t forgive my mother. Well, that’s a loaded question. I told him that forgiving and trusting are two entirely different things. I said that I somewhat understand why she did... more

I’m sure by now you’ve heard about the raid on the “compound” of a polygamist in El Dorado, Texas.

What hasn’t been as publicized is the fact that 416 children were removed and had to be placed in foster care. The Texas foster care system was already over taxed. Children were sleeping in the social services offices. Now we have just added another 400 plus children in one day. I can’t imagine how... more

This was the topic on the back of my bulletin in church today. It was encouraging the congregation to sponsor a child in need. It wasn’t my church specifically, but rather our denomination. I belong to the United Church of Christ and we are very mission based.

However, I had a bit of a problem with the message since kids in the United States were not mentioned at all. Don’t get me wrong, I know full well that kids all around the world need help. We send supplies to orphanages in Haiti and Honduras, but we also support kids here in the U.S.

I know some... more

I had planned to blog about Bi-Polar disorder, when one of my readers, Ernest, gave me a link to a story from CNN. It is a story I can completely relate to. Several years ago a mother discovered that her son was plotting to shoot some students in his high school and idolized the shooters in the Columbine shooting.

One of the things mentioned in the article was that the young man had been diagnosed with Bi-Polar... more

I’m one of those weird people who actually likes my in-laws. I actually knew my father-in-law before my husband. We had worked together for a while. When we lived in Dallas, my mother-in-law and I had season tickets to different theatre events.

A couple of years ago when things with Sammy really got bad and Sammy’s violence was increasing my mother-in-law told me that she loved Sammy but her first allegiance was to me.

That’s not to say that it’s always been rosy in our relationship. We have had some clashes over parenting Sammy, but at... more

The last week or so with Hannah has been horrid. She has exhibited behaviors we have never seen before and has cranked up some behaviors that hadn’t been around for a while.

For several months Hannah has been a fun kid to be around so her behaviors took me a little bit by surprise. When they continued for several days I knew something was bothering her, but she wasn’t ready to talk about it.

Unfortunately, we are all too familiar with this issue since this is how Sammy chose to deal with emotional issues. It is not uncommon in foster and adopted kids... more

I am cheering for the parents in this article. They were accused of child abuse against their four biological children. Their children had a rare disease called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and a partially descended brain.

Initially Leslie Udvardi was charged with Munchausen by Proxy and the charges were then changed to child abuse.

This isn’t the part that makes this... more