Snips Snails and Pigtails

For the record, I didn't want him to have one! I felt he was too young, that nothing good would come from it.

In the end, I was right....




This headline reads:

Hormone driven, 12yr old kids and sex

Yep, MY 12yr old kid! This story also involves 12yr old girl.

Said 12yr old girl texts boy messages of love..thinks she's ready for sex
Said 12yr old boy thinks he is too

The pair talk dirty via text messages. They actually send pictures of each other. What kind of pictures? I do not know, they were erased before I got my hands on the phone. (I'm thinking THANK GOD because I don't care to see my 12yr old son in any kind of alluring photos to his girlfriend)

NOW YOU SEE WHY CELL PHONES FOR CHILDREN IS NOT MY IDEA OF A GOOD THING!!!!!!!!!

I'm only 30, I care NOT to be a grandparent before the age of 35.

For the record. Said 12yr old children both lost their cell phones and have 2 sets of very freaked out parents!!!!!! Let me give you a piece of advice... LOCK THEM UP. Yes, your children! LOCK THEM UP NOW BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!!!

I sent my boys off on the bus this morning for the 08-09 school year... let's just hope and pray their bus driver wasn't one of those!!

Let's see, I've got a 7th grader, 5th grader and 3rd grader. it seems just yesterday my oldest started Kindergarten. I remember the day clearly... what happened?? I blinked and now he's off to Jr. High. I'll share pictures of him in the next few days but for now I leave you with my younger two...




Where is that bus??

I've blogged about this before, but I feel I MUST post it again. I admit, I haven't run into many issues regarding Adoption Language...thankfully.

Unfortunately, there are a few people out there that don't seem to understand their words can be EXTREMELY hurtful. It really stings when someone refers to your child as anything less than YOURS. I think the blinkie in my sidebar sums it up quite nicely.

What is...

A Natural Child? Any Child that is not artificial.
A Real Parent? Any Parent that is not imaginary.
Your own Child? Any Child that is not someone else's child.
Adopted Child? A Natural Child, with a Real Parent, who is all my own!


So for those of you that don't already know, here are some tips on how to refer to other people's "Adopted Children"...

Use Positive language (Negative language is noted in parentheses)

Just say...
Birthparent (Don't say "Real parent"! It's crass)

Biological parent (Don't say "Natural parent" because we are NOT artificial!)

Birth child (Don't say "Own child" because he/she IS all my own)

Your child (Don't refer to my child as "Your adopted child" He/She is just my child. Plain and simple. I don't describe your child with a verb. How would you like for me to say, "I am going to pick up their short child from Kindergarten for them" It's the same thing.)

Terminating parental rights (Don't say "Giving up" because not all adopted children were voluntarily placed for Adoption.)

Made an adoption plan (It's much nicer than "Gave away"!)

Chose to parent (Don't say "Chose to keep")

Waiting child (Adoptable child)

Making contact with (Reunion)

Parent (Again, I am her PARENT, not her "Adoptive parent")

Child placed for adoption (NEVER say "An unwanted child")

Child with special needs (Handicapped child)

Child from abroad (Don't use the term, "Foreign child". This is self explainable)

Was adopted ("Is adopted" places a label on a child. WAS Adopted is past tense. We've moved on and she is now a permanent member of our family.)