Once again like in the case of The Missing Pencils that I wrote about, we see bad discipline down to the point of humiliating punishment.

Some people say children learn from this. I say children's spirits are destroyed by this. If you have children and there are other spouses involved, that are step parents to your children, you need to try to be the one who handles the discipline as well as the well being of your children.

No, I am not saying all step parents are bad or that they should not discipline a child if it is necessary. Discipline is needed in every area of a child's life to keep them safe. Teachers must make decisions of discipline, babysitters must also, so must... more

Breeanna and her sister used to live with their birth mom. When times got a little rough and the birth mom lost her job, the court placed the children with the birth father at his request.

At that time in her life Breeanna's birth mom had been drinking and was depressed, so she didn't fight this action. She wanted what she thought was best for her daughters.

This is a true story. Breeanna's birth mom attends our church and my husband was the one who suggested that she just ask Breeanna if she liked collecting pencils. He also directed her to an attorney where she filed papers to fight for custody of her girls.

They are still in court and the case is pending. The... more

Dad and mom were very upset that Breeanna had taken the pencils. More over they had never known her to lie to them. She had never taken anything that did not belong to her. So the parents went in to talk to Breeanna. The mom was so upset that she spanked Breeanna. Breeanna was very upset. She cried and could not even speak. Her dad told her to get the pencils and give them to him right this minute.

She reached under her pillow and pulled out four beautiful pencils. He took them from her and told her she was grounded.

The next morning Breeanna and her sister were to go spend time with their biological mom. She could not wait to tell her how dad had let her other mom... more

It was time for class to start and the teacher asked everyone to be seated. After the morning pledge of allegiance. She did attendance and told the children to prepare for their spelling tests.

All the children got out their pencils and paper. Breeanna was amazed as she looked around and saw brightly colored pencils in other classmates hands.

All day long she could not get her mind off those pencils. So after lunch she pretended to tie her shoes while the rest of the kids got in line for outside recess. When no one was looking she helped herself to one of her friend's pencils.

After recess was over the teacher called her class to order. She asked them to take... more

Some of what I may say in this article will be graphic and it could offend someone but it is not meant to. Today I will be dealing with the subject of "Teen Sexual Habits."

Recently my daughter and her friend were sitting and discussing one of the parties they had been to. They were talking in the open so I am not breaking any type of confidence. I also have their permission to discuss this topic with all of our readers.

My daughter told of a young man who exposed himself right in front of everyone. He told her how much he wanted her. Right in front of all the other people. The kids just laughed it off. My daughters "birth sibling" brother was there and he didn't do a... more

It was around 9 p.m. and we received a call from our Foster Care Worker. They had a little boy about 14 months old that they needed to place.

Of course we told them we could take him. We were told that he hated women and didn't get along well with his birth mom.

It didn't take long before we were off to a good start. I made diner and sat him up to the table and everyone else sat down to eat. A few seconds later our new little guy dropped a noodle off his plate on to the table. He began crying and saying over and over "I sowwy mommy." This just broke my heart. I knelt down beside him and smiled and kissed his cheek. I looked into his little tear filled eyes and said.... more

After being introduced to a classroom of emotionally impaired children, I enjoyed watching what brought them joy. As the teachers worked with them you could see who was trying to listen and who didn't care what she had to say.

We were there for the afternoon to sing for the children, so we walked around and helped hand out snacks and got to know the people there with us.

There was one young man who was about the size of a two year old. But he actually was 22. Every time my mom would walk by him he would try and pull up her dress. His mother worked there so she would bring him along to play with the children.

You could see his frustration of just being in the room... more

Well I thought I would follow up on how my middle daughter is doing.

We went to court with her for her first set of charges for being a minor and drinking alcohol. The Judge gave her in-home detention for 17 days, until her next set of charges could be dealt with. She even has a detention worker who makes all the rules on a daily basis as she checks in and stops by the house to see how April is doing.

It's been five days now and she is doing ok. So she is now allowed to have friends come over to visit.

We were happy about that. Now she is not bugging us to death. We can actually get some things done without baby sitting her.

We have talked a lot while... more

OK all you hard-working foster and adoptive parents out there... always making time for everyone else. Always giving up your private time for some dire emergency that anyone else could handle. It is time you count the kids and get a baby sitter.

You are an important part of the family. If you are stressed out and you never have time for yourself, then you are at risk for burnout.

Why put yourself or your children through that. You owe it to the kids and to yourself to set aside a little time just for yourself each and every week. For married couples, it is essential that you make time for one another. Parenting is stressful as it is. However, it can really take toll... more

She stood there in the dark. I heard her sobbing. I asked her what was wrong. She didn't answer. All I could hear was silent crying.

I got up out of bed and walked over to her. I knelt down beside her. I smiled and took her face into my hands. She looked at me. My heart broke for her all I wanted to do was hold her. But she was so new to my home. I simply asked her if I could have a hug.

She hugged me. Clung to me and I sat down on the floor and pulled her into my lap. We just sat there and I let her cry. She cried for almost an hour. My gown wet with her tears. She began snubbing. No more tears to cry? I asked her softly. Then we both started to... more