Search Results for: blog how do i know if a child is being abused

Parents Petition to Put Cameras in Classrooms

There is a growing movement of parents who want to have cameras placed into Special Education classrooms. Students who are non-verbal cannot tell their parent what happened at school, but the cameras would be able to record the events for them. The presence of a camera could prevent situations where students are abused by the teacher. Earlier this year, Stuart Chaifetz started getting notes sent home from school with his son, Akian. The notes said he was having violent outbursts at school, which was very unlike him. Akian has autism, and has difficulties with verbal communication, so he couldn’t simply … Continue reading →

How Emotional Abuse Leads to Guilt and Shame

The reason given for emotional abuse varies: you are bad, stupid, ugly, or unwanted, or you are the wrong sex, the wrong age, or the wrong whatever. No matter what reason is provided, you are to blame for what is happening to you. You are guilty of causing the abuse. The guilt you are feeling is not true guilt. True guilt is brought on by a realistic understanding of your behavior and its consequences to yourself and others. False guilt is an oppressive burden that is not based on reality but on the warped views, ideas, and attitudes of others. … Continue reading →

When Children Are Violent

Could your child become violent or aggressive towards you? I don’t think there is a parent in the world who could look at their young child and think that one day he or she would be violent towards them. Sadly, this is becoming more and more common. Children are becoming violent and the person who is taking the brunt of that violence is their parent. Some children quickly learn how to manipulate and control their parents and that can lead to more aggressive behavior when they are older. The very people who love a child are the ones the child … Continue reading →

Children Who Are at Risk of Being Abused

This week I watched a horrifying story on Dr. Phil about a mother who remarried and whose three girls endured years of sexual abuse by their stepfather. It was just absolutely gut-wrenching to hear what these girls endured. While I felt for the mom, a part of me couldn’t grasp how 8 years of this could go by and she had absolutely no clue. In fact, at one point Dr. Phil asked her if looking back now, could she see signs and she still says no. I certainly don’t want to point any fingers at her but what I am … Continue reading →

In The Shadow Of The Family Tree

For every wonderful genealogy topic that there is, there is also another that is not at all wonderful. Whether we are discussing physical traits like who the baby looks like or what your cancer risk is based upon your family history or personality traits like how you seem to have inherited your mother’s knack for cooking or whether your child will suffer from depression like her grandmother, there are shadows that are cast by the branches of many family trees. Some of the shadows loom larger than others and today, I would like to take a look at something that … Continue reading →

Reunification is Not an Option For Me

The day after our face to face with CPS and the biological mother to our kids I was feeling a little more hopeful that case worker would finally be thinking that reunification is out of the question. Why would they consider reunification to a mother who just married a guy out of the blue that is obviously abusing her? They wouldn’t right? So why is it that the case worker called and said they were adding the new husband to the reunification parenting plan? They were going to offer him counseling and parenting classes that were going to be mandatory … Continue reading →

An Abused Woman

While we were sitting there across from the biological mother of our children one thing was obvious. When you looked at her you see finger print bruises, hand shaped bruises and what looked like a belt mark across her arms. The case workers asked her husband to leave the room as he would have to now be included in the reunification plan and they need to do some background checks on him first. We also left the room and waited with Rebecca in a room while they finished the meeting with her. When we were all out of the room … Continue reading →

Healthy Relationships

My favorite thing about being a parent, is my child, I think that is true for most, if not all parents. There are so many challenges when you are single, but the rewards are worth it. Often we wonder if we are doing the right thing, if our children are going to resent us later because of the divorce. Maybe they will, or maybe they won’t, either way, we have to do what we think is best. It seems like a divorce would never be in the best interest of your child, but sometimes it is. It is important to … Continue reading →

The Shocking Verdict of Casey Anthony

On Tuesday I watched the live broadcast of the verdict being read for Casey Anthony. As was the case for most people, I was stunned when I heard “Not Guilty.” Poor little Caylee Anthony won’t see justice done…at least not this side of things. Facebook got very active, lots of thoughts and opinions. Most people can’t wrap their minds around the verdict but others believe the circumstantial evidence wasn’t enough and that the prosecution reached too high in making this a death penalty case. Then of course there is the whole thing of not knowing what exactly caused her death. … Continue reading →

Pregnancy and Depression

Posted on by

People discuss post-partum depression rather openly nowadays; as someone who had 3 children I can feel for those who have experienced it, as I had my moments. I was happy to hear when actress Brooke Shields came forward with her experience, because she helped normalize something some still felt they had to suffer in silence with. Yet something that we do not hear about often is the depression some women feel while they are pregnant, so I was glad when I found some research discussing this very important issue. Isn’t pregnancy supposed to be the happiest time in a woman’s … Continue reading →