Dear Unnamed Parent

Dear Parent of the child who recently harmed my son,

Please do not take it personally that I will not be returning any future calls from you. I have to keep 'Boy* safe, and I don't think you'll help me. Please also do not pretend everything is okay with your child when his actions clearly state the opposite. 5 year olds don't act they way he did without cause; I have no idea what your struggles are or how you deal with them, but I'm certain there are some. And they're big ones. It would also be really helpful to me if you just left us alone and didn't actually call me. That way I won't have to try to explain to 'Kid* why we can't play with your son anymore. I really do not want to have 'Kid do one of his relentless questions until Mommy gives a full and complete answer sessions. What your son did was wrong and sad and could have harmed 'Boy for life: I'd like to avoid 'Kid even knowing these dangers exist for awhile yet. If I can. He's already asking hard questions about good and evil and how they interact and sometimes I just want to keep him ignorant of how hard the world can be to live in. He's only 5.

Finally--just for your own future reference--it is unacceptable to leave your child in someone else's care and then be MIA for several hours while those caregivers try to reach you. But your family friend who did your job for you when I brought him home early and explained what had happened was a kind, wise woman and I appreciate her handling of the situation more than I can say.
Thank you.

Sincerely,

My son's mother.

**I've decided Superkid and Wonderboy are going to get much too long to type consistently and have thus abbreviated them as above.

If you read this, please share.

Today I was reading a favorite blog of mine and came across this post. http://shelaughsatthedays.blogspot.com/2010/05/asking-for-help.html

Please read it, and share it and donate if you can. Problems like this orphanage faces seem bizarre here in our safe, insulated western life. But they are real, and the children suffering are real and need our help. So if you can, please do. And encourage others you know to help as well.

Thank You.

Today

It is May 12th. I live in central Colorado(not in the mountains). This morning when I woke up there were 2 inches of snow on the ground.

That is all.

Kidless weekend

This weekend my children are staying with friends. We dropped them off yesterday evening around 6 and don't have to pick them up until tomorrow morning. It has been, quite simply, divine! Now don't misunderstand me. I love my children; adore them. I cover them with kisses and hugs and tickles at every opportunity, just in case they don't pick up on how much love it takes to do all those loads of laundry and dishes and cook all those meals and wipe all those bottoms and noses. But let's be honest people: children are exhausting. I'm reasonably sure parenthood is the most exhausting occupation ever created. So rest from that work--true rest without interuption--is just heavenly. I slept in this morning, and took a shower, and went out to breakfast with my husband. We wandered around stores and dreamed of things we'd like to buy and how they would change our life and laughed and chatted and generally acted as though we hadn't a care in the world. And for today, we didn't. What a beautiful thing.