I read a few disturbing things online about one former judge Mark Ciavarella reportedly handed out harsh punishment for first time offenders — everything ranging from first time drug possession, joy riding and minor offenses for cash. That’s right, Ciavarella would get monetary kickbacks for sending as many offenders as possible to juvenile correction facilities. It is reported that he collected a sum upward of a million dollars.

One such teenager was never the same after being sent to a juvenile correction facility for a drug paraphernalia possession charge. The teen was hauled off in shackles and sent for 6 months to live in a correction facility with murderers and gang members. This teen was never the same after serving his time and as a result, committed suicide some years later.

The mother of this teen blames Ciavarella for the death of her son. The judge has been convicted on 12 of 39 charges against him.

For more information on this incredulous story, please visit ABC.com for the full scoop: http://abcnews.go.com/US/mark-ciavarella-pa-juvenile-court-judge-convicted-alleged/story?id=12965182

As a parent, my heart goes out to the mother whose teenage son committed suicide. What do you think of this? Was justice truly blind in these incidences?

I found an interesting article on this-here blogosphere about mean mommy bloggers. The article is entitled “Mommy Meanest? The Darkside of mom blogs”.

The article talks about how most parenting circles and social sites (forums, social networks, etc.) usually consist of supportive moms. However, even amongst the most supportive sites — other moms can sometimes be… well… downright cruel.

It seems that in some respect we are missing our manners today. Parenting is the toughest job we’ll ever do. In our ever-technological world we are now subject to what feels like 24 hour surveillance. People catch parents in bad moments and post them on Youtube and such. This usually brings out a mob of opinionaters just ready to strike either for or against. Can you imagine your total parenting life being picked apart by one Youtube clip?

Why is it that we are so quick to judge and be critical? Just some food for thought…

A debate on iVillage recently caught my attention.

A mother posted about her experience at a store with her children.  Apparently, the children were in line to pay for their purchases and an adult cut in front of them.  When the mom approached the adult on the subject, that person just laughed it off and said that she thought the kids were just “hanging out”.  The mom immediately stood up for her children and still the adult dismissed the idea that perhaps… *she* was wrong to do what she did.

The mom brought up a good point.  She said that if the adults in society cannot show a bit of respect, courtesy and polite regard…. then how will children learn respect and courtesy?

I suppose we still somewhat live in a society where some people feel children should be seen but not heard.  We cart them off to play their ps3 or whatever gaming system they might have…. and we expect them to show respect and courtesy at all times.

But what about adults? How often do *we* show respect and courtesy? How often do *we* exercise patience and understanding?

From where I am standing, not as often as we should…

Our middle child is a girl.  I had thought that with the middle child being of a different sex than the oldest and the youngest, that perhaps there wouldn’t be the sense of “missing out” or not being treated equally in terms of attention and … well… you name it.

But… it looks like I thought wrong.

My middle child is very conscious of “fairness” in the family.  More often than not, I find that she eyes up every instance to determine if she is missing out on something.  For example, I will hand out 3 plates of equal proportions for breakfast.  Her first instinct is to look at the other plates and check that they are equal to hers in everyway from portions to the content on the plate.  Once she feels satisfied that all is kosher, she digs in.  If, however, she finds that someone got something different (for example, O hates eggs… so I give him more meat or a piece of fruit or something in substitution), she immediately squawks.  She will ask (though it comes out in a demand) to also have what he has.

I try the best I can to make sure that everything is fair.  But with the differing ages and such, each child has differing priveledges.   I have put into place where I do something special with each one of them individually once a week.

Still, it gets frustrating when one of your children feel a little jilted.

How do you other moms and dads handle this?

Despite Madonna’s good intentions to adopt another child from Malawi, a judge denied her; simply stating that the child was being well taken care of at the orphanage.

Wow. This really angers me. For one thing, it seems like the judge and the other powers-that-be were acting in their own best interest instead of the interest of the child.

Of course, maybe i’m wrong. Maybe it’s better for this child to continue to be an orphan living in an orphanage with other orphans (who i’m sure feel misplaced and unloved regardless of the differences in culture).

The latter choice of course is to be adopted by a famously rich mother-of-three and to go on and live a life full of love and luxury. Most importantly, the child would have a family.

Now really, doesn’t this situation seem a bit ridiculous? How is this even a question of choice? I understand that orphanages are necessary institutions for children without homes and without families, but I always understood that an orphanage was a temporary fix. Isn’t the ultimate goal of these institutions to find a home and a family for every child?

If I were that little girl, and I found out that I could have had a family unit but was denied that family unit because I was “perfectly fine in the orphanage”. I grow up angry and resentful.

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Source:    CNN Article

I have been seeing the so-dubbed “Octuplet mom” on every station at least once a day.  People are fascinated with her to the point of insanity.  It seems to me as though she’s a lady reaching out for help and not just with her 14 children (all of whom are beautiful).  Granted, her situation is overwhelming, i’ll give you that.  Even that may be an understatement.  But what I don’t understand is the public outcry over her decisions.  She’s not a drug addict, she holds a college degree, she’s a good mom (no history of abuse) and likes children.  Yet the world is in ethical debate over this matter.  Granted, she had all of her children via invitro fertalization and has no husband… but does that necessarily maker her unfit to be a good mom to 14 children?

On a side note… I have three and there are days when it feels like I have 100.  So I couldn’t imagine having 14.  Just the thought of it makes me want to hide.

Oh and does anyone else think that the term Octmom or Octomom sounds along the same lines as the villainous doctor octopus from the Spiderman series?  Eh.  Maybe it’s just me…

I am interested to hear opinions on this… so shout it out!

Ahhh sleep… where did you go?  It seems like only two months ago now that you were coming in 8 hour shifts like clockwork every night.  Now however… you seemed to have floated off on a cloud.  Maybe you left with the sandman.  Whatever.  The point is… you are not here and I am not as functional as I used to be.

It was about a month ago that husb and I decided it was time to put mr. brodykins into his own crib.  Right now, all three kids share a large room.  The oldest two sleep in bunkbeds and mr. baby is in his crib.  This arrangement worked out well for about a week.

Now however, Brodykins wakes up in the middle of the night. This, usually because he has lost his pacifier.  His crying in turn wakes up the other kids and so we get many visits to our bed during the wee hours of the night. The kids and Elmo.

But I tell y’all now…. I am absolutely over it.  It is hard to maintain a cheery disposition and a feeling of being on top of things when you get 2 hours of sleep per night.  I never realized how much sleep meant until I was no longer getting it. (I think we parents block out the “We have a newborn and are not getting enough sleep” phase… so obviously this whole sleep deprivation thing is not *new* to me. BUT STILL.

Somewhere in the back of my mind is the knowledge that this is a phase and it shall pass.  Still… tell it to my eyes that need to be pried open or my mind that seems to have developed selective amnesia.  You know… the kind where you forget simple things like … the keys to the car… the purse…. diapers… tampons… etc.

I am certainly ready to have an 8 hour siesta and i’m sure that by posting this I have jinxed my chances for tonight.  Ah well….perhaps when we get a sleep number bed better rest and a full night will come with it?

Who knows… but for now… i’m going to pry my eyelids open with a toothpick. I totally say this tongue-in-cheek.

My son, my first born snuggle bear is 4 today!  Where does the time go?  I am excited to see that he is growing into such a neat person.  I love the sparkle of his personality and the fact that he is sensitive, intelligent and witty.

Still… time seems to have slipped by so fast, yet it hasn’t gone unnoticed.  So with a little sadness I say “goodbye” to the baby/toddler part of his life and watch him go into the preschool/schoolage child phase.

Happy birthday little man!  I love you so much and am so proud of you!

I FINALLY have a C-section date!  Woot!  Monday, June 30th!  How cool is that?  The fact that reality inches closer and baby Brody’s arrival within a week makes me extremely ecstatic!  I feel like i’m floating on cloud 9!

My week has been rather good.  We didn’t do a whole heck of a lot other than more baby prep, finishing up my final project for school (which I got an A on!) and spending as much snuggle time/ 1 on 1 as I can with the kids!

On Saturday, my amazing friends threw me the best darn babyshower ever!  Seriously… when one of the prizes is an aqua bra and the other is a squishy bag of fun that looks like a penis, and you laugh so hard that you cry… you know it’s a good one!  Thanks guys!  I love you all so much!  I had a rockin’ good time!  Jodi, I think we’ll need to wear our bras at the next porch party!

Today was both good and not-so-good.  It was relaxing to say the least. I sorted through baby clothes and tomorrow will wash and put them away.  Things seem to be going together nicely so far (with the preparation) and that’s awesome!  It was a little dreary and cooler today so we (husb and I) decided it would be nice to take a family nap!  We all took a 3 hour nap and felt refreshed afterward!

Husb and I are talking about experiencing some Chicago travel later on this summer. I want to visit IKEA and take the kids to the museum of science!

And finally…

This evening, I logged onto myspace and got a message from one of my best friends from high school.  She has recently been diagnosed with bone cancer and has a 40% survival rate according to her doctor.  She has 2 small children at home (ages 4 and 1).  She is not a religious person persay, but is asking for a lot of prayers.  So please, if you read this… pray for her.  She is a good person and deserves to see her children grow up!

Lately I have been trying to search for some good sales on baby items (i.e. clothes and diapers). Is it just me or is everything rising at an alarming rate?  Inflation at its finest, folks.

So I have been shopping for baby B.  We decided to name him Broderick.  I can’t remember whether or not I remembered to mentioned that.  Anyway, I have yet to find a good sale.  You know, the kind where you can stock up to your heart’s content and know that you will be pleasantly rewarded with a discounted bill once everything has been rung up.

No such luck here.  I’m thinking of trying a store called Once Upon a Child.  It is a children’s clothing and accessories consignment shop.  They only take gently used items so you are sure to end up with great clothes at bargain prices.  I am addicted to that store.  I’ll admit it and with no shame.  I plunked down some change a few months ago to outfit my daughter and son for the short spring season.  Now, i’m quite ready to do it again!  Hee!

My friends have been extremely generous in giving me any clothes that their babies have outgrown!  I am so thankful for that!  I seriously have rocking mom friends!

Rambling here… it is amazing to me how frugal I am now as compared to the days when Owiebear was just a little cub.   Of course, the outrageous gas prices don’t help any.

I am forever looking for ways to save money, so here is a question for moms of more than one….

How do you save money when buying clothes, accessories, etc. for your children?

Enlighten me please!

Now that the baby is almost here, I have really been thinking toward the future, especially in regards to my body image and weight.  Post baby weight is hard to lose on it’s own.  Imagine trying to lose post-post-post baby weight!

Admittedly, it is a little scary to think about and maybe just a bit overwhelming.  However, I feel really ready to get my body back and create a better self-image.

I have been tracking commercials about the list of best diet pills for awhile now. I am not really sure if I would go there right away but I have heard some positive things about certain weight loss products on the market!

I have always felt (and maybe it is just me) that we moms lose a certain part of ourselves with every pregnancy.  Mostly because being a mom whether it be to one or more changes everything for us!  I mean really, did you ever think you would care so much about another human being’s bowl movements?  Being a mom means not getting super grossed out when you share a drink with your child even though you know there’s going to be AT LEAST a small amount of backwash.

In any case, I love that i’m a mom.  I love that mom and wife are major parts of my identity now.  However, there’s another part of me that I am trying to connect with.

Does that make sense?

I love watching YouTube. Who doesn’t? Recently, I went in search of parenting advice and tips just to see if anyone was brave enough to put something out there. What I found was a 3 part video of Bill Cosby speaking in front of parents, students, and teachers about parenting and school. He touched on some very important issues in the first of the three videos and I thought I would share it here.

I meant to share this story straight after it happened last week, but it totally slipped my mind in the end.  

On Thursday morning of last week, my son was kicking butt on the potty training.  I had him in underwear for three full days without any mess and not only did he go potty when I requested, he actually TOLD ME that he had to go potty!  I couldn't have been more proud.  That Thursday morning ended our three-day streak.  

I was cleaning the house and heading for the bathroom when I walked in on my son going poop (YAY!). 

Our conversation and the situation that followed went like this:

O:  "I'm going poop mommy!"

Me:  "That's great baby!  Mommy didn't mean to interrupt.  Let me know when you are finished and i'll help you wipe."

O:  "Okay!"

3 minutes later, he came running out of the bathroom

O:  "I went poop on the toilet!  I went poop on the toilet!"

Me:  "YAAAAY!  Good job buddy!  Now for a treat!"

O:  "I want the yellow one."

His words for saying that he wanted the little box of milk duds.  

Me:  "Make sure you eat them and don't let Sophie get ahold of them!"

O:  "Okaay!"  as he ran down the hallway to play in his room.

15 minutes later….  (I was in the kitchen and O in his bedroom playing with Sophie)…

O: "Mommy!  Sophie is eating Pooop!"

Me:  "What the…?"  (while running down the hall).

So there was Soph, lying on her back, munching on something dark brown.  At first, I thought it was a milk dud.  Milk duds kind of look like poop nuggets when you think about it. 

I took it out of her mouth and smelled it.  It smelled… like… poop.  UGH! 

Me:  Owen!!!!

It turns out he had pooped his pants AFTER claiming that he went poop on the potty.  Then dug in and threw some nuggets out because it felt (in his words)… "UCKY".

Thus ended our three-day streak of doing extremely well on potty training.  I hear that going poop on the potty is usually the last thing mastered. In O's case, we now have a story to tell all unsuspecting girlfriends.