Nature vs. Nurture
What plays into our humanity? Nature vs. Nurture – how two factors affect one individual.
Mama
"To you who feel like a stranger in your own house. You’re loved. You’ll find your home full of love where no one sees it. Don’t give up." -SA
Gone
Coward. Coward is all I can think. Back then when I was five, you were a hero. When I was 13, I would go to you first for anything. When I was 18, I had my first heartfelt conversation with you and we cried together. When I was 21, you broke my heart. You didn't break my heart slowly, you allowed it to linger, hanging on a single hinge for a week. You spoke to me of things I shouldn't have had to deal with on my own, you made me lie and hide words. You let me cry for your stupidity and disappointed me every time I'd see a drink in your hand. You probably thought it was OK, felt relieved even, to get those words off your chest and share them with someone close. But with those words you condemned me. You changed your ways with the world. You stopped caring, you yelled in front of people who shouldn't have heard it. You were the person I looked up to, an idol of sorts. You were the safety at home, the protector. Then you slowly became the absentee, the runner. I would stay up late nights to make sure you'd be home, wondering, worrying. I would hear the fights. I felt the pain.
Melanie GuajardoPublished 6 years ago in FamiliesCuring the Chaos
Considering sickness when you have children, can often create chaos. Especially when their system is already compromised. In our case, it's due to CF. In other cases, it could be anything. As everyone knows, the flu has seemed to create an epidemic. Lives have been lost, mostly in children.
Brittany BatesPublished 6 years ago in FamiliesRerooted: A Tale of Estrangement
I didn’t have the perfect childhood. My parents, through no fault of their own, saw their lives spiralling out of control. They weren’t born monsters; they were victims of their own circumstances. For that I cannot blame them.
Anya M StrengPublished 6 years ago in FamiliesWhen Is It Okay to Lie to Our Children?
It’s no secret that parents aren’t always completely honest with their children, whether to keep them sheltered from harsh realities or for their own wellbeing. Telling tall tales about mythical characters such as Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny, for example, can actually leave a positive impact on children. Those that eventually learn the truth, either on their own or from their parents, and choose to accept it, have realized that not having these characters around hasn’t led to negative consequences in their lives or the world as a whole.
Mimo le SingePublished 6 years ago in FamiliesBlood Is Thicker Than Water
Over this past year, I’ve gotten various responses when I say that my husband and I don’t associate ourselves with specific family members, such as,
Brianna KrossPublished 6 years ago in FamiliesBorn Addicted
What does an addict think when she finds out she is pregnant? Does she consider what could happen to the baby? Does she think about her next fix? What happens to those babies when the mother never stopped using when she was pregnant?
Interracial Love
My husband and I never thought we would marry each other ever. I grew up in a black Christian family. And he grew up in mostly a Salvation Army church with a white mother and a Hispanic father. People ask us both these questions all the time. Why did you not marry a black man? Why did you marry a black woman? Why marry someone that is white and Hispanic? WHY?
Shante HernandezPublished 6 years ago in FamiliesLet's Teach Our Children Not to Be Assholes
I was blessed with such a thoughtful son. He holds doors open for anyone older than him. Sometimes he even remembers to put his napkin in his lap. And sometimes, he remembers to use said napkin instead of current T-shirt to wipe his face.
Katie CarterPublished 6 years ago in FamiliesThe Effects of Growing Up With Bottled Emotions
July 26, 2017, attempted to end @3:58 AM. Sometimes I still fall victim to the hardness that I once knew. I catch myself being cold when I feel as if I’m witnessing weakness. It’s sad really, where that comes from. Just now I noticed that I had banned my dog from my bed and had been cross with her because she was shaking from fear of the occurring thunderstorm. Making jokes to myself, I said aloud, “I didn’t put a quarter in the bed” and, “I love you but I also love to sleep!”
Jessica BatemanPublished 6 years ago in FamiliesEffects of Corporal Punishment
Many Americans believe that physical punishment is effective and harmless, despite what research shows. This form of discipline can mentally damage a child in a number of ways. Physical punishment used to get rid of an unwanted behavior can negatively affect three basic steps in learning, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and cognition.
Raising a Family in a System of Division
I don't want to talk about the things that affect me or hurt me for others to say things like I'm so sorry you're going through this or you are so inspirational to me. When I speak about the hard topics I speak about them in hopes to provoke change. To provoke a new way of thinking and a new approach that will not only benefit me but benefit those around me also affected by the hard topics. I am not looking for sympathy. I'm not looking for a hand out. I am simply telling it as it is. I've heard things like what do you expect, you decided to subject yourself to discrimination by living in boonie town. Well my response to that is this; I have experienced discrimination in boney town and in very diverse populations. It makes no difference where I live, the discrimination will always be there because my skin will always be brown. I have had coffee thrown at me while being told go back to where you came from while driving in Toronto, Ontario, a very diverse area and plenty of people of color. I have had someone stop their car, come out just to throw racial slurs at me out of the blue, me just minding my own business, oblivious of this attack. I have been told I was: a coon, a monkey, a nigger, a drug addict, all in a very culturally populated area. I have had smoke blown into my face while standing in a bus shelter and told that the welfare system is corrupted because of people like me and the other niggers who don't pay taxes (Wasn't even on the system and paid my taxes). I chose not to have my children be subjected to racial slurs and tensions by removing myself from this area. The incidents happened more frequent than I could wrap my head around them. I wanted my children to have the same or similar advantages of the average Canadian child. Not the average black child but the average Canadian child. So I moved to the boonies. In the boonies my kids have been able to utilize the extras the inner city schools won't get, like a decent education, access to music, sports, technology that they wouldn't otherwise had gotten in an inner city environment. I raised my kids to be the best them they can be, not to be the best black kid they can be. Race has been such a big issue lately that it causes some uproar of conversations at my dinner table. It causes tension within my own household because of the varying responses towards it. I have been silent for a long time while I mend the hurt feelings of my kids from being told they couldn't possibly have done an A plus job on an assignment because people of your color cannot possibly have the understanding to complete such complex things. I have had to simmer rage between siblings who have varying views on how a racial incident should be addressed. The unequal treatment of black males verse black females. I have had to deal with unresolved feelings from my children when called niggers, monkeys or pretty for a black girl. My kids have triggered this post because I have always said I will protect my children no matter what and help them be the best they can be. I write this with feelings of disservice to my children for not teaching them how to be black while growing up. My eldest said to me that she was happy to not be taught to be different because it allowed her to see herself for who she is and what she is capable of rather than a black girl plus whatever the title is that may be added. She believes that because she is able to see herself for her and not limited by her skin she is able to fight through the labels and barricades that society tries to place on her. My children are thriving despite the racial attacks whether passively or aggressively thrown their way. Why do I write this then some may ask. I write this because the first insult/swear words that my youngest has ever dealt with is being told she's a nigger. I write this because instead of the typical conversation of counseling my child on why people say hurtful things I have to add racism to the hurtful things. I write this because my kids cannot go anywhere without me knowing where they are for fear that them being late or unaccounted for could mean they were lynched or arrested (yes I worry about that in Canada). I write this because they fight. We fight for everything and or paths are constantly blocked. I feel defeated most days. I don't know how many different ways I have tried to be of comfort to my kids through everything they go through. I feel broken most days but I still have to build them up. I don't know how to continue to do this for them, my heart is hurting and I feel broken. When I advocate for my kids or I expect policies to be followed, our human rights to be granted, I have been told you're asking the right questions and these are the questions that needs to be answered. So who is going to answer the questions that mothers and fathers of color have about the injustice they experience and now their children experience. How can we stop talking about change and actually change something. Report and statistics will not change the emotional damage racism has on our entire society. This is not a black problem this is an everyone problem. I'm going to just end this by quoting one of my favorite quotes: "Be the change you want to see in the world".
Trish NalaPublished 6 years ago in Families