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12 votes
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How my daughter disrupted my politics
16 votes -
Ninety-five percent of American schools now conduct school-shooting drills. We spoke to more than twenty students to learn what they see, hear, and feel during what has become a routine experience
14 votes -
Cartoonist draws a happy ending for twins that he accidentally put on the "naughty list"
7 votes -
Why your kid loves the garbage truck so much
17 votes -
Why is childcare so expensive?
13 votes -
I showed vintage Mister Rogers to my 21st-century kids
14 votes -
In Denmark, children's homes are places of stability, comfort and support – now a British entrepreneur is bringing the model to the UK
3 votes -
"Children and Politics" - a 3 minute interview with British children before the 1964 general election
This is short, but it demonstrates something that's been missing from tv for a while, which is the simple interview with children that recognises they are children but still takes them seriously...
This is short, but it demonstrates something that's been missing from tv for a while, which is the simple interview with children that recognises they are children but still takes them seriously as humans.
EDIT: Somehow I missed the main link, which goes to a BFI page here: https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-children-and-politics-1964-online
There are some amazing old (1960s, 1970s) British tv interviews with children carried out by Harold Williamson. He asks children a question and then just lets them answer. There's no attempt to laugh at the children, and there's no attempt to say "zomg look at what this cute kid is saying".
A few clips here, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06tq93b and there are probably more on Youtube: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06tq93b
It's showing its age - "what would you do if your husbands went on strike? How would you run a household?" (asked of two girls) isn't acceptable.
7 votes -
To solve the problem of a dwindling population, one small Finnish municipality took a big step – pay its citizens to have babies
9 votes -
I’ve opted out of homework for my young children. Here’s why, and how you can, too.
10 votes -
Kids? Just say no
8 votes -
Shame on those who defend the "loving smack": it's just plain violence against children
19 votes -
Why IVF has divided France: The country is forever caught between tradition and innovation, universalism and individual rights
7 votes -
School uniforms are on the rise — even for toddlers — and it’s changing back-to-school shopping
24 votes -
Hanoi's street boys and runaways are easy prey for exploitation
6 votes -
The case against summer camp
6 votes -
Enslaved on a British cannabis farm: Minh was 16 when he was kidnapped, raped and trafficked to the UK. When the police found him, he was treated like a criminal rather than a victim
10 votes -
Fatal distraction: Forgetting a child in the backseat of a car is a horrifying mistake. Is it a crime?
19 votes -
More people need to talk about having fewer children
29 votes -
A US Border Patrol agent reveals what it’s really like to guard migrant children
15 votes -
The future of the city is childless - America’s urban rebirth is missing something key—actual births
12 votes -
William and Ida are Denmark's most popular names again
3 votes -
China Muslims: Xinjiang schools used to separate children from families
9 votes -
"Shona is one of the almost 50 people worldwide known as skyborns—impromptu deliveries who increase the passenger manifest, mid-flight."
4 votes -
Gunmakers are profiting from toy replicas that can get kids killed
6 votes -
After men in Spain got paternity leave, they wanted fewer kids
17 votes -
Making playgrounds a little more dangerous
12 votes -
Long school commutes are terrible for kids
10 votes -
What number of kids makes parents happiest?
7 votes -
My childhood in a cult
6 votes -
World health officials take a hard line on screen time for kids. Will busy parents comply?
8 votes -
'The horse nation is here for us': How Lakota culture is helping treat child trauma in South Dakota
5 votes -
Advocacy group alleges Oregon's foster care system 'revictimizes children'
4 votes -
Is Applied Behavioural Analysis really “dog training for children”? A professional dog trainer weighs in
5 votes -
Indonesian kids keep getting 'possessed by spirits' during high school exams
8 votes -
The cost of having children - women lose earnings for five years after childbirth
12 votes -
How parents are robbing their children of adulthood
18 votes -
How Inuit parents teach kids to control their anger
17 votes -
Trying to figure out my personal craziness
I hope this is the appropriate Tilde for this. If no one has any input it will still have helped me to type this out. TL;DR In over my head with marriage, foster care, family, and work. My wife...
I hope this is the appropriate Tilde for this. If no one has any input it will still have helped me to type this out.
TL;DR In over my head with marriage, foster care, family, and work.
My wife and I became foster parents about 1.5 years ago with the intention to not adopt, but to care for children 3 and under while bio parents worked to regain custody or other permanent placements were arranged. Our first placement was two girls (7 mo and 2.5 yrs) despite wanting to do just one kid at a time (especially to start). We had them for 6 weeks and mom got them back. We had another placement (8 mo boy) for about another 6 weeks. There was a considerable lull and we were getting frustrated about not getting any new placements when the girls from our first placement were placed into custody again. So we were able to take them in again (now about 1.2 and 3.5 yrs). FF to now and we've had them for about 6 months.
We never really intended to have more than one child and for quite this long and we're struggling. My wife has always had a little less ability to weather stressful situations like this and these last 2-3 weeks I'm carrying a lot of weight. In the meantime, bio mom has gotten pregnant and there's not another hearing regarding custody for another 9 months. We fully expect that she will not be able to take them back at that time (or really realistically ever). What should probably happen would be that the county could place the kids into permanent custody (basically getting them adopted). However, from what we've heard from other foster families, temporary custody could drag on for years.
So, our main dilemma is this. We are not equipped (as a couple) to care for these kids for years. With the likely prospect of no change in custody in the near future, it feels like the best thing for these kids would be to get them into the care of someone looking to do this long-term, perhaps to eventually adopt. That being said, we absolutely love them and it feels like some kind of betrayal to force them to make yet another transition. On the other hand, with our limitations, it seems like that is inevitable anyway. Do we try to make that happen sooner?
Some other data points:
Our fostering license expires in October (about a month after the hearing is scheduled) and we don't intend to continue fostering (at least for a while, and definitely not with our current agency).
We don't have many family members close by to give us a hand with the kids, making us feel isolated and making it hard to get breaks from the kids. Our agency has not been very helpful with lining up respite care, but we're trying to be more aggressive about that now.
I've got things pretty well lined up to retire in about 5 years. My company is also just now kicking off a major project of a similar time frame and I'm in a good position to really make a mark before moving on. It will probably require some serious time commitments and effort to do it the way I want to.Thanks for listening.
12 votes -
When a Newton family welcomed a baby who is deaf, twenty neighbors learned sign language
10 votes -
How to grant your child an inner life
8 votes -
A four-year-old trapped in a teenager’s body
38 votes -
Let children get bored again
23 votes -
In the era of spellcheck and auto-correct, does it matter that my son can’t spell?
10 votes -
Father-daughter relationships strengthened with these three connectors
5 votes -
The relentlessness of modern parenting
12 votes -
Specially-trained autism assistance dogs helping change the lives of children
8 votes -
In China, a school trains boys to be ‘real men’
12 votes -
Forty-eight of the coolest kids in New York
6 votes