Parents Failed Her!

Did you read my previous post, if not please scroll back.

A book is suppose to make  you think, stick with you awhile right?  Well, that book surely did.  I find myself thinking about it off and on too much.  I find my emotions continue to be mixed.  Anger, sadness, and more.

I mentioned I couldn't accept her (her being the authors) perspective that her parents weren't to blame, that she didn't blame them....they simply didn't know.

• Maybe she's not being honest with herself, maybe it's easier to think that way, maybe she's a better Christian and has forgiven them?  But, to say they didn't know?
• Parents have 1 primary job and that is to take care of, to keep their children safe.  They most certainly failed to do that big time.  Why?  Too interested in climbing the corporate ladder to think what was right for their children.  Does anyone really think moving every 2 years, pulling kids out of their neighborhoods, making them start over in school, making them try to fit in and make friends every 2 years is a good idea??

1. They didn't have many close friends, couldn't.
2. They didn't really know neighbors, couldn't
3. They didn't really know teachers well, couldn't

Likewise, the parents didn't know their children, their children's aquaintenances or their teacher...why, they couldn't and or choice not to.  They didn't participate in school functions, didn't attend school activities their children participated in.  If they had, they might have conversed with other adults to realize something wasn't right.

Your daughter, your young 15 year old daughter creeps out of the house at all hours of the night and early morning for a period of 2 years and you don't hear it?  Seriously, you don't hear her on the steps once she 's left her room, you don't hear the door opening or it closing when she leaves?  You don't hear the door opening or closing when she comes back?  The door opens and closes 4 times on each occurrence and this happens over 2 years and you fail to hear it every single time?  Wait, lets back up a little....prior to her creeping down the steps, the phone rings, so you don't  hear the phone, or the door? night after night for 2 years? So ok, maybe that night you're really tired and you don't hear it,  but neither you or your spouse EVER hear it?  WOW!  I can not accept that.

But, there's more.  You don't hear the phone because you don't like to answer the phone and talk to any of your children's friends, so to keep your distance you buy them personal phones for their bedrooms.  Perfect solution to staying un-involved in your kids lives.  Even had nothing horrific happened, this would be a parent fail.

In my dating years, back in the dark ages; our house was left un-locked and when we returned from our dates we locked it up.  I can guarantee you my parents heard each and every-time I came home, knew what time it was and whom I had been with.  We had a specific time to be home, often they would ask as we passed by their bedroom door...did you remember to lock up?  Yes, they heard us, heard me and my two parents every time we left the house.

There's more to consider though.  I grew up in a nice small house; her parents were climbing the corporate ladder.  She lived in a large house so hearing might have been a bit harder.  Wouldn't that just mean you had to work at hearing a little harder?  Her parents "entertained" a lot, apparently that was part of the work of climbing, so often weren't without the influence of adult beverages.  This was eluded to when the police brought her home..........so perhaps under the influence keeps you from hearing on some nights......but still night after night for two years two adults don't hear their children.  Don't check on their children?  Unacceptable.

Wait, so the police brought her home, so they did know she was "out"?  That's another whole rant, please pop back in to find out about the police and their involvement in this tragic story of human trafficking.

Ipads, Reading and eBooks

I got an ipad a few months back as a birthday gift from my DH.  I'm still feeling very much like a newbie at it; but am enjoying having it.  Normally I don't read all that much ....beyond knitting or crochet patterns, or blogs...lots of blogs; but since getting the ipad have found I read more then I did before.

Why?  Maybe it's the novelty of the gadget...if so, no doubt that will wear off at some point.  Maybe it's the ease of having things at your finger tips.  You don't have to go to the book store, you don't have to go to the library.  In fact you can spend 10 minutes or less and look through what Amazon has to offer pretty quickly.  I narrowed my search to free or $0.99 cent books, then selected a genre I like wow......the number of offerrings is pretty staggering.  Then through Amazon, I saw something called Book Bub.  It's even better.  You don't have to know what you're looking for, or who the author is.  Again you plug in a few things, like how much you want to spend and what genre's you like and each day in your email box you get a notice of 2-4 books...Generally I've gotten 3.  There's a snipet about the book and how much it costs you click buy or not.  You don't need to buy a certain number of books in a certain time frame like a book club.  Selecting books couldn't be easier.  Once you click in your email, you're taken to your amazon page, where you click buy with one click...AND you are DONE!

Each time you turn on your ipad or Kindle or other e-reader the bok loads and you're ready.

The above book is one I recently finished.  I paid 0.99 cents for this book; not the normal price but it was the special of the day.......another advantage of Book Bub.

Have you read this book?  I'll be doing a review, prbably in several different blog posts, as there is much to discuss about this book.  Please join me.  Its a serious topic, one that needs to get attention and truly needs to be discussed.

Though in my last post I mentioned I joined a new blog challenge, that has gone by the wayside.  I'm trying to get back into blogging with more regularity and that challege wasn't going to do it for me.

The New Year

The New Year is a time for resolutions and starting fresh, so why not start with a challenge to kick off the new year! I have come up with the #2014bloggerchallenge. The challenge is to write a blogpost twice a month about different topics. The #2014bloggerchallenge posts will go live during the 1st and the 3rd weeks of each month. Everyone who signs up will be sent an email with the post topics. The topic ideas are there to give you new ideas and encourage you to write about things you wouldn't normally write about.

Well, I've done it again.  I've joined yet another blog challenge.  Which is probably good, as it's been awhile since I've blogged regularly on all 5 of my blogs.  Sometimes you need a kick start.  

I'm at #388 on a list of 409 bloggers who signed up for the challenge over at Another Girly Blog.  Gaby wrote the post about the challenge back in Nov, giving us all time to gear up.   Several weeks later, she sent out emails with the topic...again giving us time to write our post.  However, I'm just now on January 1, writing my post.  Life's been busy is my excuse.

Welcome to 2014, and the challenge.  I'm looking forward to getting out and about and visiting lots of new blogs and making new blog friends.

The topic:
The topic for the first post of the #2014BloggerChallenge is going to be "New Years Inspiration" - the idea is that instead of writing new years resolutions on your blog you share a quote or a picture that inspires you and you think will inspire others in the New Year. 

That little logo, inspires me.  It inspires many others as well.  Why?  It represents kindness, caring, and loving hands coming together to accomplish something that is near and dear to my heart.  It's the logo for my charity.  It's a ministry that reaches homeless people in need.  It reaches Men, Women, and Children living out doors in central Ohio; as well as those living in temporary shelter situations.  For 5 years knitters and crocheters and others have used their time and talents to keep people warm with making and donating hats, scarves, mittens, slippers, and other warm items.  Through a wonderful team effort we've been able to warm thousands of people in 3 different family shelters, people in food lines, and people living outdoors....under bridges and beyond.  If you knit, or crochet, or want to be a part of something that truly matters...check out the blog HERE.  (the logo is also an active link).  You do not need to knit or crochet to help.  

**edited to add, please folks kill your captcha's, when trying to visit lots of blogs it's beyond a nuisance and time consuming**