No, this isn't a spam blog... My good friends, the Maddexes are giving away an iPad! Its all for their hope in adopting Danil, a beautiful little boy living with Down Syndrome in an orphanage overseas.
There is a catch of course. You have to add to the cause by posting this link to your facebook and/or your blog and even better, give a few bucks!
So click on the link! You can get over 80 entries! Click below to see how!
http://addingtothemaddness.blogspot.com/2011/03/madd-ipad2-giveaway.html
THANKS!
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Somer Thompson
Those who live locally here in Jax know about Somer Thompson. If you don't, please click here, then read on.
North Florida has been heartbroken for the past 72 hours, first with her disappearance, then with the discovery of Somer's body. When the story first broke, I was annoyed that they interrupted my Big Bank Theory to talk about a missing girl that never came home from school. Then when Barry said (who, at first, was also annoyed) "What if it was Alexa?" my annoyance quickly dissipated.
I admit, I kept my distance. Even though it unfolded in Orange Park, minutes from where I grew up, I felt as I did with any other story on the news. It was a "There goes another one" attitude. Then, yesterday morning, I listened to Somer's mom give a news conference on the way to work. Her voice was so... distraught. I've never heard heartbreak, real sorrow, like I did from her.
Then, last night, they found the body but couldn't confirm it was Somer. So again, I kept my distance - they don't know yet.
But listening to the news on the way to work this morning, they confirmed the body found in the landfill was indeed Somer Thompson, a 7 yr old who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I've never let a news story affect me like this. I sobbed all the way to work. I'm realizing that, as a parent, you see the news in a completely different light. Prior to Alexa, I could sympathize and say "I can imagine what they're going through." Now I realize that I really didn't have a fucking clue. No one can tell you how scary it is going to be as a parent. No one can warn you about these things. Does it get any easier to listen to the news? Knowing that the family on the screen really isn't any different than us and, just like my family, doesn't deserve to feel that horrific grief?
Somer, I didn't know you. But I know that your mother loves you. Your brothers and sisters love you. And now, a whole town, state, and country love you. Please dance with the angels, and give my Grandma a big hug from me.
North Florida has been heartbroken for the past 72 hours, first with her disappearance, then with the discovery of Somer's body. When the story first broke, I was annoyed that they interrupted my Big Bank Theory to talk about a missing girl that never came home from school. Then when Barry said (who, at first, was also annoyed) "What if it was Alexa?" my annoyance quickly dissipated.
I admit, I kept my distance. Even though it unfolded in Orange Park, minutes from where I grew up, I felt as I did with any other story on the news. It was a "There goes another one" attitude. Then, yesterday morning, I listened to Somer's mom give a news conference on the way to work. Her voice was so... distraught. I've never heard heartbreak, real sorrow, like I did from her.
Then, last night, they found the body but couldn't confirm it was Somer. So again, I kept my distance - they don't know yet.
But listening to the news on the way to work this morning, they confirmed the body found in the landfill was indeed Somer Thompson, a 7 yr old who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I've never let a news story affect me like this. I sobbed all the way to work. I'm realizing that, as a parent, you see the news in a completely different light. Prior to Alexa, I could sympathize and say "I can imagine what they're going through." Now I realize that I really didn't have a fucking clue. No one can tell you how scary it is going to be as a parent. No one can warn you about these things. Does it get any easier to listen to the news? Knowing that the family on the screen really isn't any different than us and, just like my family, doesn't deserve to feel that horrific grief?
Somer, I didn't know you. But I know that your mother loves you. Your brothers and sisters love you. And now, a whole town, state, and country love you. Please dance with the angels, and give my Grandma a big hug from me.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Adoption Rights for ALL
Did you know that it is ILLEGAL for a gay person to adopt a child in Florida? How rediculous is that?? Well, please see the below post, and if you are a resident of Florida and feel that children deserve a parent, no matter what their orientation is, please send Mr. Crist an email. I recieved this in email form and have decided to post it here as well.
Thanks, Mandi
Securing Our Children's Rights, Inc. (SOCR), is pleased to announce HB 3 - Adoption, for the 2010 legislative session, introduced by Representative Mary Brandenburg, D-West Palm Beach, that is a full repeal of Florida's ban on adoption by its gay and lesbian citizens. Senator Nan Rich has a companion bill in drafting at this date.
Governor Crist has declared Wednesday, July 22, 2009 as Explore Adoption Day and we must contact Governor Crist and the legislature to Explore Adoption by repealing the ban.
WHEN: Wednesday, July 22, 2009
WHO: Governor Charlie Crist (850) 488-7146 or email to Charlie.Crist@myflorida.com
House Speaker Larry Cretul 850-488-1450 or 352-873-6564 or email to Larry.Cretul@myfloridahouse.gov
Senate President Jeff Atwater 850-487-5100 or 561-625-5101 or email to atwater.jeff.web@flsenate.gov
Your Florida Representative - www.myfloridahouse.gov
Your Florida Senator - www.flsenate.gov
THE ASK: Please ask the Governor to support the repeal of the adoption ban on gay Floridians and ask him to encourage the legislative leadership to pass the repeal. Please ask the House Speaker and the Senate President to support the repeal and encourage Committee hearings for the bills. Please ask your representative and senator to support the repeal, and to become a co-sponsor.
FLORIDIANS READY TO REPEAL BAN
A poll, released January 22, 2009 by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, found that a clear majority of Floridians, 55% to 39%, believe the Florida legislature should repeal the ban.
Click here for poll information We are very hopeful that this independent poll will help give Florida legislators the assurances they need to do the right thing. Now we know that it's not only the right thing to do from a scientific and child welfare perspective, but a majority of Floridians now support the repeal as well.
TALKING POINTS - Gay and Lesbian Parenting: THE FACTS
(1) Florida's gay adoption ban was passed in 1977 at the height of Anita Bryant's anti-gay "Save the Children" campaign. This law has done significant damage to children in foster care by not allowing the best interest of the child to be considered on a case-by-case basis. Curtis Peterson, the lead Senate sponsor, said upon passage of the ban, "We're trying to send [homosexuals] a message. We're really tired of you. We wish you'd go back into the closet."
(2) Destructive impact on children - over 4,500 children languish in Florida's foster care system today. The adoption ban arbitrarily excludes hundreds, if not thousands, of potential parents based solely on the irrelevant criteria of sexual orientation. These adults could provide stable, loving, PERMANENT homes to many of these children if this ban were lifted.
(3) In 2003, the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute released a research study, stating, "reality on the ground is outstripping the pace of the debate. That is, a growing number of lesbians and gay men are becoming parents and are living as families every day, irrespective of what the policymakers do or say."
(4) There is no credible scientific evidence that the sexual orientation of parents has any effects either on the quality of parenting or on the well-being of their children. In fact, the reliable social scientific evidence indicates that lesbian and gay parents are as fit, effective and successful at parenting as their heterosexual counterparts. (See American Academy of Pediatrics February 2002 Policy Statement, Vol. 109, No. 2, pp. 341-344)
(5) At least eleven (11) mainstream child welfare, social science, and professional organizations have issued policy statements SUPPORTING adoption by lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender (LGBT) people: Child Welfare League of Amerian, American Bar Association, American Medical Association, American Academy of PediatricsAmerican Psychiatric Association, American Psychoanalytical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Psychological Association, American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, National Association of Social Workers, and North American Council on Adoptable Children
(6) Decades of research indicate that optimal development for children is based not on the sexual orientation of the parents, but on stable attachments to committed and nurturing adults. Children with two parents, regardless of the parents' sexual orientation, do better than children with only one parent. (American Psychiatric Association 11/2002 policy statement)
(7) Adoption decisions should be based on an individualized assessment of what is in the best interests of the child to be adopted. Applicants should be assessed on the basis of their ability to successfully parent a child in need of family membership and not on irrelevant considerations such as sexual orientation.
(8) Regardless of what policy makers do or say, gay Floridians are raising children and legal protection is necessary for these children. Families have been created by adopting in other states, artificial insemination, previous heterosexual relationships and family tragedies such as the death of a sibling.
2010 LEGISLATIVE SPONSOR UPDATE
HB 3 on Adoption Sponsored by Representative Mary Brandenburg - District 89Co-Sponsors areRepresentative Evan Jenne - District 100Representative Mark Pafford - District 88Representative Ari Porth - DistrictRepresentative Scott Randolph - District 36Representative Darryl Rouson - District 55Representative Ron Saunders - District 120 If you don't see your representative please give them a call and ask them to sponsor the Adoption bill. To find your representative's contact info, click here.
The Florida Senate bill sponsored by Senator Nan Rich is currently in drafting.
Thanks, Mandi
Securing Our Children's Rights, Inc. (SOCR), is pleased to announce HB 3 - Adoption, for the 2010 legislative session, introduced by Representative Mary Brandenburg, D-West Palm Beach, that is a full repeal of Florida's ban on adoption by its gay and lesbian citizens. Senator Nan Rich has a companion bill in drafting at this date.
Governor Crist has declared Wednesday, July 22, 2009 as Explore Adoption Day and we must contact Governor Crist and the legislature to Explore Adoption by repealing the ban.
WHEN: Wednesday, July 22, 2009
WHO: Governor Charlie Crist (850) 488-7146 or email to Charlie.Crist@myflorida.com
House Speaker Larry Cretul 850-488-1450 or 352-873-6564 or email to Larry.Cretul@myfloridahouse.gov
Senate President Jeff Atwater 850-487-5100 or 561-625-5101 or email to atwater.jeff.web@flsenate.gov
Your Florida Representative - www.myfloridahouse.gov
Your Florida Senator - www.flsenate.gov
THE ASK: Please ask the Governor to support the repeal of the adoption ban on gay Floridians and ask him to encourage the legislative leadership to pass the repeal. Please ask the House Speaker and the Senate President to support the repeal and encourage Committee hearings for the bills. Please ask your representative and senator to support the repeal, and to become a co-sponsor.
FLORIDIANS READY TO REPEAL BAN
A poll, released January 22, 2009 by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, found that a clear majority of Floridians, 55% to 39%, believe the Florida legislature should repeal the ban.
Click here for poll information We are very hopeful that this independent poll will help give Florida legislators the assurances they need to do the right thing. Now we know that it's not only the right thing to do from a scientific and child welfare perspective, but a majority of Floridians now support the repeal as well.
TALKING POINTS - Gay and Lesbian Parenting: THE FACTS
(1) Florida's gay adoption ban was passed in 1977 at the height of Anita Bryant's anti-gay "Save the Children" campaign. This law has done significant damage to children in foster care by not allowing the best interest of the child to be considered on a case-by-case basis. Curtis Peterson, the lead Senate sponsor, said upon passage of the ban, "We're trying to send [homosexuals] a message. We're really tired of you. We wish you'd go back into the closet."
(2) Destructive impact on children - over 4,500 children languish in Florida's foster care system today. The adoption ban arbitrarily excludes hundreds, if not thousands, of potential parents based solely on the irrelevant criteria of sexual orientation. These adults could provide stable, loving, PERMANENT homes to many of these children if this ban were lifted.
(3) In 2003, the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute released a research study, stating, "reality on the ground is outstripping the pace of the debate. That is, a growing number of lesbians and gay men are becoming parents and are living as families every day, irrespective of what the policymakers do or say."
(4) There is no credible scientific evidence that the sexual orientation of parents has any effects either on the quality of parenting or on the well-being of their children. In fact, the reliable social scientific evidence indicates that lesbian and gay parents are as fit, effective and successful at parenting as their heterosexual counterparts. (See American Academy of Pediatrics February 2002 Policy Statement, Vol. 109, No. 2, pp. 341-344)
(5) At least eleven (11) mainstream child welfare, social science, and professional organizations have issued policy statements SUPPORTING adoption by lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender (LGBT) people: Child Welfare League of Amerian, American Bar Association, American Medical Association, American Academy of PediatricsAmerican Psychiatric Association, American Psychoanalytical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Psychological Association, American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, National Association of Social Workers, and North American Council on Adoptable Children
(6) Decades of research indicate that optimal development for children is based not on the sexual orientation of the parents, but on stable attachments to committed and nurturing adults. Children with two parents, regardless of the parents' sexual orientation, do better than children with only one parent. (American Psychiatric Association 11/2002 policy statement)
(7) Adoption decisions should be based on an individualized assessment of what is in the best interests of the child to be adopted. Applicants should be assessed on the basis of their ability to successfully parent a child in need of family membership and not on irrelevant considerations such as sexual orientation.
(8) Regardless of what policy makers do or say, gay Floridians are raising children and legal protection is necessary for these children. Families have been created by adopting in other states, artificial insemination, previous heterosexual relationships and family tragedies such as the death of a sibling.
2010 LEGISLATIVE SPONSOR UPDATE
HB 3 on Adoption Sponsored by Representative Mary Brandenburg - District 89Co-Sponsors areRepresentative Evan Jenne - District 100Representative Mark Pafford - District 88Representative Ari Porth - DistrictRepresentative Scott Randolph - District 36Representative Darryl Rouson - District 55Representative Ron Saunders - District 120 If you don't see your representative please give them a call and ask them to sponsor the Adoption bill. To find your representative's contact info, click here.
The Florida Senate bill sponsored by Senator Nan Rich is currently in drafting.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
From the Desk of Denise Carmichael
Since I get to read all the fun antics your kids are up to, I thought i'd share an email my sister just sent me:
Why Mom's have to be fast-thinkers and flexible with a sense of humor:
I have to get the boys out of the house before I lose every hiding place I have!
Reason #1)
Remember the "Elf on the Shelf" that visits us before Christmas every year (Buddy)? He popped in today and you'll never believe where he was hiding: in the back, top part of Mommy's closet!
Ashton was playing in my closet just now, looks up and yells, "Mommy! I see Buddy! He's here!"
I try to convince him it isn't him: "No, that's just a red glove."
"No Mommy- I see his face!"
damn.
Thinking quickly, I look happily surprised and say, "How did he know you'd be playing down there? He must've heard Braydon was sick and he wanted to check on him. Sneaky Buddy!" =)
Reason #2)
Here's what happened this morning:Ashton's looking in the closet upstairs for something, so I ask him, "What are you doing?"
"I'm looking for the drum set that's in here."
"What?"
"Before Christmas there was a drum set in here that looks a lot like the one Braydon got. I just remembered it- if I can find it then we can both have one!"
He continues searching."Ashton, there's no drum set in there.""Yes there is- Daddy showed it to me before Christmas! It's in here somewhere."
Jason had a different story, but either way- now I've lost that hiding place.
I better get the boys out of here before they discover their Easter presents!
Why Mom's have to be fast-thinkers and flexible with a sense of humor:
I have to get the boys out of the house before I lose every hiding place I have!
Reason #1)
Remember the "Elf on the Shelf" that visits us before Christmas every year (Buddy)? He popped in today and you'll never believe where he was hiding: in the back, top part of Mommy's closet!
Ashton was playing in my closet just now, looks up and yells, "Mommy! I see Buddy! He's here!"
I try to convince him it isn't him: "No, that's just a red glove."
"No Mommy- I see his face!"
damn.
Thinking quickly, I look happily surprised and say, "How did he know you'd be playing down there? He must've heard Braydon was sick and he wanted to check on him. Sneaky Buddy!" =)
Reason #2)
Here's what happened this morning:Ashton's looking in the closet upstairs for something, so I ask him, "What are you doing?"
"I'm looking for the drum set that's in here."
"What?"
"Before Christmas there was a drum set in here that looks a lot like the one Braydon got. I just remembered it- if I can find it then we can both have one!"
He continues searching."Ashton, there's no drum set in there.""Yes there is- Daddy showed it to me before Christmas! It's in here somewhere."
Jason had a different story, but either way- now I've lost that hiding place.
I better get the boys out of here before they discover their Easter presents!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Feeling Sorry For Myself?
There are about 5 people on my myspace that are currently expecting a baby. I am unbelievably happy for them. I love children, I love the joy they bring me and I'm not even a mother. I love seeing the little peanut ultrasounds and the "We're expecting!" headlines. I love the joy i read through friends blogs or even just captions of a child's picture written by their mother. I read Laurie's blog about parenting.com and decided to take a gander at the DS baby pictures. Looking at them put tears in my eyes. They are just so beautiful. Children, whether they have DS or are "46-ers" just have a way to show undeniable love through their eyes and smiles.
I really don't want a child right now. I'm not ready yet. Barry and I aren't in a place that we can financially take care of a child. Barry's not in a place mentally that he is ready for a child. I don't know if he ever will be. But I knew that when I married him.
Even if we both were ready and wanted a baby, who knows when it would be before i got pregnant, if i am able to get pregnant at all. (That thought scares me the most.) With my PCOS, things don't seem to be getting any better. Most of that is my fault - the 20 pounds the doctor told me to loose is still sitting on my fat belly. I was doing so well at taking my meds on time and now, since we've been traveling a lot lately, i keep forgetting. I will get back on track with that though.
With all that being said, I have a confession to make: I would be estatic if I got pregnant. I can't help but feel envious of those 5+ people on my myspace. The warmth that must be going through their hearts - i can only imagine it. I've been only imagining it for a few years now. My heart is ready to experience it first hand. If only my head and pocketbook (and husband) would catch up.
I really don't want a child right now. I'm not ready yet. Barry and I aren't in a place that we can financially take care of a child. Barry's not in a place mentally that he is ready for a child. I don't know if he ever will be. But I knew that when I married him.
Even if we both were ready and wanted a baby, who knows when it would be before i got pregnant, if i am able to get pregnant at all. (That thought scares me the most.) With my PCOS, things don't seem to be getting any better. Most of that is my fault - the 20 pounds the doctor told me to loose is still sitting on my fat belly. I was doing so well at taking my meds on time and now, since we've been traveling a lot lately, i keep forgetting. I will get back on track with that though.
With all that being said, I have a confession to make: I would be estatic if I got pregnant. I can't help but feel envious of those 5+ people on my myspace. The warmth that must be going through their hearts - i can only imagine it. I've been only imagining it for a few years now. My heart is ready to experience it first hand. If only my head and pocketbook (and husband) would catch up.
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