Until recently, my 4-year-old and 1-year-old had no schedule. They’d eat when they were hungry and sleep when they were tired. I’d cookdinner, but if they didn’t want to eat at 6 p.m., then they could eat later. My 4-year-old, Xavier, loves McDonald’s or Chinese food. Almost daily, Dad would give in and get him what he wanted.
X-man and his little brother, Zachary, also went to bed very late. … Read More
In 2010, the Chicago Housing Authority tried to require residents to turn over their kids’ report cards as a condition of tenancy, sayingthey were doing it to assess for “potential need for services.” Then in 2011, the Chicago Housing Authority wanted to require that all residents, including thousands of seniors, undergo drug testing as a way to fight crime in public housing. If anyone in the household tested positive, the Housing Authority … Read More
Last April, my son was placed in foster care from his mother’s custody. Knowing how some foster parents can be, I worried that my son might be mistreated in the system. My son had been staying with me onweekends, so I asked the judge if I could take my son, but the system did not approve of my apartment. They said I couldn’t bring him home.
But they allowed my mother to … Read More
On the morning of June 14, 2009, my daughter, grandson and I headed north from our small town in Nebraska on the 90 mile trip to theBehavioral Health Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. My grandson, Nathan, had been acting extremely aggressive for 36 hours. He threw chairs across the room, punched the computer screen, and kicked and hit family members.
Nathan, who has been diagnosed with Bipolar, ADD and ODD, and also has … Read More
The bleeps of the monitors seemed to blare against the glare of the gleaming ivory floor as my husband and I wheeled our six-month-old son down the hospital hallway. I felt my guilt open up like a gash and I hid my tears from my son.
Earlier that day I had pushed my son in his stroller to our Queensbridge apartment building and then tried to pull the stroller up the stairs. … Read More
