Reading Nancy Spoolstra’s post about the tragic college shooting deaths this week, I was just thinking and wondering if we’d also find out that the shooter was adopted. I only say that, in my paranoia, because of stories like this that have become all too prevalent and my second most violent kid will come to visit us this upcoming weekend. The most violent one returned home in December but has improved.

These thoughts stress me out and I spent the entire day outside weeding and thinking about how I will handle his visit. He’s been in treatment for nearly seven months and has expressed a huge desire for home and family. He may not ever have all that he needs in order to function properly in society but compared to some other folks where he is, he’s nearly normal. A ridiculously laughable comparison, but it is the only one that the therapists have to work with in making their decisions. Financial cuts though are the main reason.

I got him mental health services then trying to keep him out of the juvenile justice system, I don’t know if I only delayed the inevitable or if we could possibly have a success story here.

We’ve gotten our sixth dog recently, we have acreage and 20 some kids still at home. and this silly puppy, a terrier mix, has certainly served his own therapeutic purpose here as he is curious and delightful, plus bright enough to outsmart a houseful of traumatized children nearly every single day.

I even resorted to spelling the sentence, “Let him go out to the bathroom,” as the puppy quickly figured out that meant he was leaving the party so he would take off and hide. My kids either can’t spell that fast, or used this as yet another control issue with me thus resulting in puppy poop as a natural consequence, a concept I’ve been working on for decades around here.

So between my own horticultural pursuits and my children’s animal therapeutic interventions we’ve had a calm day today. I’ve come inside to look at the news on the computer, to blog and to continue pondering adoption issues as I’m still so obsessed with these topics, still constantly struggling to find answers.

Artwork and Photo Credit Lily Bodie