What's in a Name? Your Child's Future

I'm a big proponent of individuality and personal expression when it comes to practically everything. Everything, that is, except for baby names. Few parents realize when they give their child an uncommon or unique name they are setting up how that child is perceived by others for life.

I know from experience. My parents gave me an uncommon name. I have spent my entire life from first grade on correcting misspelling and mispronunciations. If I had a dollar for every time I heard, "What was it again?", "Can you spell that?", "I've never heard anyone with that name before" or for every time someone forgot my name, I'd be a rich woman. It makes it difficult every time I meet a new person or call to make an appointment. As an adult, it's frustrating. As a child, I was the odd one out.

Here are some real life unusual names, I've come across over the past several weeks: Jorace, Cricket, Zully, Yawning, Moniqua and Espn.

It's not just unusual names that cause confusion. There's the unisex names. Names like Shelby, Kelsey, Robin, Courtney, Leslie and Shannon were once exclusively male names. Now, they are almost exclusively female names. Pity the poor man who has to spend this whole life being mistaken for a woman.

Certain names bring to mind certain characteristics. When I was a girl, Tiffany, Jennifer and Nicole were popular names. You can picture a girl name Jennifer growing up to be a doctor, lawyer, businesswoman or politician while the name Tiffany brings to mind valley girls and 80's pop stars. I went to high school with a boy named Cletus. The name makes him sound uneducated and poor when in fact he was not.

Parents, just because you love a name doesn't mean your child will love it. Think long and hard before giving your baby the name you chose. Is it unique? Does it have a strange spelling or pronunciation? Is it a unisex name? Does it bring to mind stereotypes? If the answer is yes, you may want to think again.

Mom & Daughter Kicked Out of Disney

This story belongs in the "news of the weird" category. A mom and her daughter dress as princesses for trip to Disneyland Paris and are kicked out of the park. Disney says it has a global policy to not allow anyone in costume into their parks lest someone be mistaken for a Disney character.


When I first heard this story on the local news, I misunderstood it and thought they had already been admitted to the park and then were thrown out. After all, the mom is saying their trip was ruined and Disney owes them an apology. But then after reading about the story online to write this post, I learned more of the facts. The mother and daughter were stopped while waiting in line and told to go home and change. They had yet to pay for a ticket, hadn't stepped through the gates of the park and were allowed to enter if they went back to their hotel and changed their clothes.

Finding out these facts changed the whole point of this post. I had originally intended to talk about how they should have been told before entering the part, but that is exactly what did happen. Now I'm taking Disney side on this. Unfortunately, we live in a day and age where you have to worry about kidnappers and child molesters. Not allowing non-Disney employees into the park dressed in costume is a safety issue, a big safety issue.  In addition, Disney can't run the risk that a crime does happen because then the lawyers would get involved and the park's policies would be under scrutiny.

What do you think?

http://news.travel.aol.com/2010/04/20/mother-dressed-as-princess-banned-from-disneyland-paris/

10 Random Thoughts

1. Do Ford commercials make their vehicles sound like super cars? They sync with your cell, they help you park your car, they're great on gas. Wonderful. Next they'll drive themselves.


2. Why is it when a group of women get together, it invariably ends in a discussion about fat pants?

3. Why is it when it comes to discussions about abortion, people confuse morality with legality? Making abortion illegal won't stop it from happening. In the pre-Roe vs. Wade days, women still had abortions. They have them in unsafe and unsanitary ways and often ended up with infections or, worse, ended up injured or dead.

4. One of the greatest inventions known to man: The self closing toilet seat lid.

5. Spill proof sippy cups in addition to being spill proof are also drink proof.

6. Why don't they sell cute maternity clothes in department stores like the kind Heidi Klum wore on Project Runway this season?

7. Do pizzas really need a warning that says, "Do not eat without cooking"?

8. Pregnancy is not an excuse to eat as many unhealthy foods as you can and then whine later when you can't loose the baby weight.

9. It's all fun and games until your toddler scratches your eye out.

10. Civil rights leader Dorothy Height died this week. I read her biography online recently. What an extraordinary woman and an inspiration to all of us.

In Defense of Kate

Kate Gosselin has many haters. You might be one of them. There are a lot of them out there. Funny how most of them didn't start voicing their opinions until she started having marital problems with her now ex-husband Jon and funny how most of her critics are women.

Kate is criticized for practically everything. She criticized for having her sextuplets. I've seen posts online saying she was selfish for even conceiving them. Some of the posters claimed the Gosselins' fertility problems were fictitious and that they never needed fertility drugs, that they had their children as some sort of grand plan to get fame and fortune. I've never heard of any other parents of multiples criticized like this. Why would anyone voluntarily conceive sextuplets? Carrying that many children causes a great deal of damage to a woman's abdominal wall, to her intestines, to her bladder, to her skin. Kate's tummy tuck wasn't for the sake of vanity, as many women claim, but to repair all the damage. And we all know that if they had chose selective abortion, she would be criticized for that as well.

Strong, opinionated, type A women are a no-no even in today's society. Women with these personality traits are labeled and talked about as if they can't be strong and opinionated and still be feminine at the same time. The only thing Kate Gosselin is guilty of, in my mind, is not thinking before she speaks.

She is often criticized for wanting to continue Jon and Kate Plus 8, for wanting to work on television instead of getting a "real" job. Have any of these people stopped to think how expensive it is to raising one child yet alone eight? It is unbelievably expensive and would require a lot more money than going back to work as a nurse would provide. I've read comments about how she only wants the fame to buy herself expensive clothing. Kate grew up lower middle class. She wouldn't be the first poor person to all of sudden have money and feel the need to look the part. Why isn't anything ever said about Jon and how he makes a living?

I watched an interview with Kate Gosselin last summer. It aired not too long before the series finale of Jon and Kate Plus 8. Kate spoke about how she was betrayed or had people turn their back on her in the wake of her marriage scandal. These had been people she thought she could count on to always be there. People say the fact so many people turned their back on her is proof she is in the wrong. But who hasn't been betrayed by a spouse, a lover, a family member or a friend at some point in their lives? Children and teens do this all the time, but even adults can be like sheep following the heard.  I truly believe she is in pain and doing the best she can.

It's a shame we live in a society where whenever there is a divorce or a breakup it's always the woman's fault. Why is Kate Gosselin the bad guy when she was the one who was cheated on and lied to by an emotionally immature man?

.....

I was originally planning on saving this post until after the Dancing with the Stars season ends. I don't watch the show, but I thought it would be more timely to wait. Then I was on LinkedIn last week being not Fab Mom but a businesswoman and I found a fantastic article that I never expected to find there. It's written by Jessica Eaves Mathews and it's entitled "As a Woman Business Owner, Are You Helping to Create a Double Standard?". The title intrigued me so I clicked on it and to my surprise it's an article about Kate Gosselin.

In the article Jessica questions why women are criticized for having to work hard to support their children and why we live in a society where women are judged more harshly than men. I think you'll enjoy reading her point of view.

http://www.jessicaeavesmathews.com/as-a-woman-business-owner-are-you-helping-to-create-a-double-standard/

Mom Sends Adopted Son Back to Russia

In early April, a mom from Tennessee put her adopted Russian son on a plane and sent him back to Russia with a note stating she no longer wanted to be his parent. She claims he has severe psychological issues and wanted to burn the house down. The mom, Torry Hansen, had help from her mother Nancy Hansen. It is the elder Hansen who put the boy on the plane.

Prior to reading the ABC news article (http://abcnews.go.com/WN/anger-mom-adopted-boy-back-russia/story?id=10331728&page=1) and watching the accompanying video I had questions. Now I have even more.

Torry Hansen is a single mother with another child. It is unclear from the news report whether the other child is a biological child or adopted. I have nothing against single mothers. My maternal grandmother was a single mother, having been widowed at age twenty-five. But how was a single woman able to adopt a child when so many married couples have difficulty or have to wait for years to get a child? Have the requirements for becoming an adoptive parent simply gotten more relaxed, or is this why Hansen adopted from Russia in the first place?

This brings me to my next couple of points. I have never seen the allure of adopting children from a foreign country, especially one halfway across the globe. I know that it is highly expensive to do so and it involves a lot of red tape. There are a number of deserving children here in the states. Look at all the children who are in foster care. What is wrong with adopting them? Maybe it's not as glamorous as "rescuing" a child from an orphanage, but they certainly deserve love and stability. And they speak the same language as us.

Hansen, as I said before, said the boy had psychological problems. The boy says he was yelled at by his adoptive grandmother and his adoptive mother pulled his hair. How do we know who to believe? This isn't first time a child adopted from a former communist-block country has had emotional problems. I find it more surprising if they don't. Think about it. These children come from over crowded, often poor, facilities. There isn't enough love and attention to go around, and they spent their formative early childhood in these conditions. These children are no doubt psychologically scarred for life. Hansen says the orphanage didn't inform her of the boy's problems. Maybe they didn't. Maybe they did and Hansen merely under estimated her ability to handle such a child.

It wouldn't be the first time a parent under estimated their ability to handle a child with mental issues. In the past two decades, 15 Russian children adopted by U.S. parents have been murdered by their parents. Yes, you read that right, murdered by their parents.

When I was in grade school, I remember a teacher telling us that we could be given up for adoption by our parents at any time if they decided they didn't want to be parents anymore. Truth is most of us would do anything it takes to make sure our children are safe, healthy and raised in a loving environment. The same should apply to adoptive parents no matter what sort of child they end up adopting, even the psychologically scarred ones. The best gift Hansen could have given this boy was to get him the professional help he needed to overcome his past and control his temper. Instead she sent him back to the very place that caused his issues in the first place - the orphanage.

Ode to My Grandmother

Had my paternal grandmother lived tomorrow (April 18) she would have turned 91. She passed away in 2005. The older I get the more appreciation I have for my grandmothers, both of them, and how much they contributed to the person I am today.

When Grandma passed away, I took it hard. I took it harder than I took my grandfathers’ deaths. In fact, thinking about her today, I'm tearing up a bit. I miss her.

I look as my grandmother looked when she was my age. I grew to be the same height she was and have the same figure. She's the only relative I can say I resemble. I get my love of wearing dark colors from her and my dislike for patterns. I get my love of earrings and rings from her, too.

Growing up, my grandparents lived very close to us and I spent a lot of time with them. I have fond memories of walking through the garden learning about vegetables and flowers, of being in the kitchen during the Easter season baking bread, of grandma's cooking. Grandma was bi-lingual. I remember many of the stories she told me about her youth, which she spent in Greece and her birthplace in Massachusetts. Both places were spoken of highly in my family when I was growing up and still are. Grandma was a seamstress and was extremely talented when it came to sewing and crocheting. I wish I was half as talented as her. The best I can do is sew on a button or mend a tear.

Now that I am a mother, I wonder what my grandmother would think of her little great-granddaughter. What stories would she tell her? What traits or skills would she pass on?

One of my hobbies is genealogy, although it takes a backseat to a number of other responsibilities. When I was pregnant, it became even more important to me to learn about my family's past because now I had someone to pass it down to. Sadly, I have never been to New England where, I'm told, the house my grandmother was born in still stands. It's a trip I'd like to make before my great-aunt, Grandma's last remaining sister, passes away. It's also a trip I'd like to make for my daughter in the hopes that through her distant cousins she will come to learn about Grandma's side of the family tree.

I'll be thinking about you tomorrow, Grandma, and wishing you were still here.

To Have Kids or Not to Have Kids, That is the Question

I read an article in the local newspaper when I was in my late teens or early 20s that stuck with me. The article posed this question: If a woman decides to have children or not, how does she know she did the right thing?

Just a couple of generations ago, this was a mute point. There wasn't any choice. Our grandmothers knew they might work outside the home for a while, but they fully expected to get married and have children. It's just what people did. But now we have a choice, and it's that choice which is causing a dilemma.

It seems we can do either one of two things. We can either have a career or have a family. We can work and have a family, but one will always have priority over the other.

Woman No. 1 decides to put her career first. She spends a lot of time and resources into her education and moving up the career ladder. She delays having children until she is in her late 30s or early 40s when conceiving is very difficult. She might decide not to have children at all, or maybe she finds out she waited too long and can't have any of her own. Then she looks back at her life and wonders if she should have paid less time on her career and more time on starting a family. She doesn't know if she did the right thing.

Woman No. 2 decides to have a family earlier in life. She spends the better part of her life taking care of her children. She might work outside the house, but she can't work the long hours the career woman did. She probably has no desire to. Her children grow up and she looks back and wonders if she abandoned her own hopes and dreams for the sake of the family. She doesn't know if she did the right thing.

Even if a woman has kids, there is the question of how many. One? Is it fair to the child to be an only child? Is that a good enough reason to have two children? If you have two or more, will money be tight? Is it being selfish to want a small family or a large one?

With freedom comes tough choices. How is a woman supposed to know whether she had done the right thing? Is it possible to have it all? Is it possible to correct your past choices and get back a part of your life you may have missed out on? Those are questions I simply can't answer.

Do Doctors Get Kickbacks For Recommending Mirena & Other Froms of Birth Control?

Maybe it's just me, but I'm starting to think doctors get kickbacks from the pharmaceutical companies for recommending certain types of birth control, namely Mirena.
It all started when I had my post partum appointment after the birth of my daughter. My doctor recommended Mirena to me. She said she used it herself and loved it. When I expressed concerns about side effects, not just for Mirena but for all forms of hormonal birth control, she flat out said to me, "You won't have any side effects." She was very confidant about this, gave me some literature to read and told me to discuss it with my husband and think about it.

In hindsight, I am so very thankful I did go home and think about it instead of making a rash decision. I did some independent research. I started first with the medical practice's website. To my surprise, all the birth control links on their site were for the drugs' manufacturers. Finally, a few days later, I came across a website written for medical professionals. It included a lot more information than what patients are told. It included step-by-step instructions on the insertion process, enough to make you squirm and it included pages on the side effects from the most common (periods lasting up to 16 days for the first 3-6 months) to least common (death from ectopic pregnancy or infection). I knew at that point Mirena was not for me and I haven't regretted that choice.

And for a while, I forgot about it. That is until the last few months when two things happened. The first is the new Mirena ads starting airing. Mirena is marketed almost exclusively to mothers. The new ads show a harried but happy mom of two going about her busy day while the narrator talks about two kids being enough and how she couldn't handle the third. The difference between the new ads and the older ones, which aired while I was pregnant, is that more side effects are named than before. I'm wondering if this was something the manufacturers were forced to do.

The second thing is that I have come across many mothers on social networking sites and other places talking about Mirena and how they have had problems with it. These moms are of all different ages, different races, have different medical backgrounds and have a different number of children. The one thing most of them have in common? A good lot of them said, "It was recommended to me by my doctor". How could one birth control method be recommended to so many people who share no similarities except for being a mother? That's when I remembered what happened to me at my doctor's appointment, and that's when I seriously started wondering about doctors receiving kickbacks.
Your birth control choice is a very personal thing, so I'm not going to tell you what to do with your body but I will say this: Most of us trust our doctors to know what is right for us. But at the same time the use of hormonal birth control, for most of us, is optional. It isn't used to cure a disease or regulate a condition. It's your body. Do all the research you can on what you're going to be putting in it before you make a decision you may regret.

Michelle Duggar Deserves Sainthood

This week, the Duggar's youngest child went home from the hospital. The little girl, Josie, their 19th child was born several weeks early when her mom, Michelle, was diagnosed with preeclampsia.


Michelle Duggar, in my opinion, should really be elevated to sainthood. I've been watching her family every since they only had 16 children. I first saw them when I caught a special about the family going on vacation. I watched another special about the building of their house, which the family built themselves, and I try to catch the weekly series when I can. In other words, I've seen many hours of Michelle parenting.

There's actually three reasons why I think Michelle should be made a saint. The first is probably the most obvious one: she has 19 children. Pregnancy is hard on the human body even an uncomplicated pregnancy. But she has carried twins, gotten pregnant when the previous child was under a year old, had (if I'm not mistaken) four c-sections and several VBACs. In the episode which aired 4/6/10, she playfully called herself the dairy queen. Why? Because she was pumping breast milk around the clock for Josie, who was still in the hospital at the time. She was pumping for a grand total of 8 hours a day. I can only imagine the strain her internal organs and bones have been through.

The second reason is all the children have been or will be home schooled. That is a major time commitment. Think about it. She has infants and toddlers in the house. They need taken care of and kept out of trouble. The house needs cleaned and meals need made. Sure, her eldest daughters help out, but it's a large house and a large family. So she's a mom, a housekeeper and a school teacher. How does she find the time?

Lastly, I have never seen Michelle so much as even raise her voice. She always speaks to her children in a calm soothing voice. Remember, patience is a virtue. a virtue Michelle has. No matter the chaos going on around her -- and often times it is chaos -- she is always cool and collected. That's something most of us can't say about ourselves. How many of us have lost our patience with one child or two?

It's refreshing to see a celebrity mom who is actually somebody you wouldn't mind meeting and sharing a conversation with. Can you imagine the wealth of stories Michelle has to share? And while I can't say I agree with, or even understand, some of the Duggars beliefs, they seem very tolerate of others, and I can appreciate that. I wish them all the best of luck but something tells me they don't need it. Michelle can handle it all.

10 Things Toddlers and Teens Have in Common

You probably don't think a toddler and a teen have much in common but they do. Check out these startling similarities:

1. They both are testing their boundaries with mom and dad to see what they can get away with.

2. They both try dangerous things with no concept of consequences.

3. They both get upset when disciplined. The toddler cries. The teen yells.

4. They are both messy and don't clean up after themselves.

5. When going through a growth spurt, they want to eat all the time.

6. When the toddler babbles, you have no idea what he's talking about. When the teen talks about pop culture or uses slang, you have no idea what he's talking about.

7. They both think they're the centre of the universe.

8. They both have mood swings.

9. They're both noisy and don't understand the phrase, "Be quiet" or "Not so loud".

10. Neither one listens to you when you tell them what to do.

And two things they don't have in common:

1. The toddler will forgive you a lot easier than the teen.

2. The toddler is always happy to see you.

Breastfeeding vs Formula Feeding Moms

There's a war going on between breastfeeding and formula feeding moms. A war of the words that is as there are highly opinionated women on both sides. So when an article appeared in the news the other day entitled "Study: Breast-feeding would save lives, money" (http://health.yahoo.com/news/ap/us_med_breast_feeding_savings.html), I thought for sure the war would take a nasty turn. Somehow it didn't.

I'm Switzerland on this issue. Three generations of women in my family have been unable to produce milk with enough calories to feed our children breast milk alone. As an infant, I was fed both breast milk and formula. So was my daughter. As mothers, we did the best we could.

Here is a quote from the article:
About 43 percent of U.S. mothers do at least some breast-feeding for six months, but only 12 percent follow government guidelines recommending that babies receive only breast milk for six months.

Dr. Larry Gray, a University of Chicago pediatrician, called the analysis compelling and said it's reasonable to strive for 90 percent compliance.

But he also said mothers who don't breast-feed for six months shouldn't be blamed or made to feel guilty, because their jobs and other demands often make it impossible to do so.

The way I see it many things need done before we'll ever see 90 compliance.

1. The U.S., unlike many other industrialized nations, does not have laws requiring employers to give employees maternity leave. (Baby Talk did an article about this in 2009. Unfortunately, I don't know which issue.) Some nations give their moms a full year or more. When I was pregnant, my employer didn't offer maternity leave at all. I had to use sick time or go unpaid.

2. I have never worked for an employer that actually had a private place for a mom to use a breast pump. I don't know of anyone who would want to pump in the restroom when people are constantly walking in and out.

3. We live in a society where breast feeding in public is looked down upon. Give moms the freedom to both breastfeed and leave the house and they'll be more likely do so.

4. Lastly, the article states moms shouldn't be blamed or made to feel guilty, but the truth is they are. Moms shouldn't be made to feel that if they start off breastfeeding but stop that they are somehow a bad mom or less of a woman.

Breastfeeding or formula feeding is your choice. At the end of the day, you have to be comfortable with your decision. And only you can make that decision. Yes, breastfeeding has many health benefits. Yes, some moms are forced to formula feed. But why do we have to argue about it? Shouldn't moms on both sides of the issue be uniting together to make this county a better place for all moms?

Where Do They Find These People?

Where do they find the people who are on reality shows? No, not the ones who have a weekly series. We know they're in it for a pay check. And I'm not talking about the ones who are on shows where you win cash or prizes, because, let's face it, they're in it for, well, cash and prizes. I mean the woman who are on shows like Bridezillas or the women who give birth on TV.

Let's start first with Bridezillas. As entertaining as this show happens to be -- and yes, I find it funny -- do you really want "that" woman? You know the one. The picky one, the bossy one, the bitchy one, the one no one wants to be around. Do you want the whole country knowing you're like that? I don't know. Maybe they're proud of it. Some women are. Yet somehow they manage to find men willing to marry them. I feel so sorry for the grooms after watching an episode. I know they'll end up in divorce court sooner or later. Maybe they'll end up on Divorce Court and get another 30 minutes of fame.

And then we have the women who give birth on TV. There are shows on TLC, Discover Health and probably some other channels, too. I can't say for sure because I really detest those shows. The high rates of C-sections on these programs (see my March blog on the alarming rise in C-section rates) scared the crap out me when I was pregnant and I've only see a few episodes since. Even for the women who gave birth naturally, a large number of them were induced. (Perhaps the topic if a future blog.)

But I'm straying from my point. Why would you want to give birth on TV? When I was giving birth, the doctor asked me if I wanted a mirror and I refused. I was convinced the sight of my lady parts in that situation would give me nightmares. I've never regretted that choice.

The question "Why would you want to give birth on TV?" also applied to the women who give birth in the educational films they show during birthing classes. I wondered that when I was taking my classes. I also wondered why none of these women had ever met a shaver or a bikini wax.

The only thing I can think of is the participants on these show must be paid quite nicely. They don't win anything, of course, but the lump sum must be sizable to make it worth their while. So how much would it take to get you on a reality show?

Diaper Fascination

Lately, my toddler has become fascinated with diapers. And not just any diapers either -- used diapers. I really don't get it.

It began with the removal of diapers from the diaper pail. She would come and show them to me proudly like a cat bringing home a mouse. Then it turned into examining the contents of the diaper. Oh, yes, who doesn't like having to clean poop up off the floor? It has gotten so bad we have actually duct taped the diaper pail shut.

As if that wasn't enough, she has also started taking her diaper off. Who knew we were raising a stripper? At this point, I know many parents would just let their child run around naked. I won't be one of them. It's not that I have an aversion to nudity, quite the opposite, it's that I have an aversion to cleaning bodily fluids off the floor and furniture.

Not long ago, I read a post on a social networking group I belong to for moms. The post was about a mom who has started potty training her daughter at 15 months. At the time I thought she was crazy. I had never heard of a child being potty trained before the age of 2 or 3. Now I'm starting to think it wasn't so crazy.

I'm going to try and find a good book to read to her about it first. I'm not quite sure how else she'll understand the concept. Plus she loves Sesame Street, so Elmo potty here we come.

Parents, Schools Need to Stop Bullying

This week criminal charges were filed against students who bullied Phoebe Prince, a high school student who committed suicide after being harassed by them. Prior to these arrests I had not heard about the case. Curious about it, I read an article on Slate which summarized it for me.

The poor girl had been needlessly harassed for months yet parents and school officials had done little, if anything, to stop it. I had been under the mistaken impression that since Columbine, schools were more willing to do something about bullying than they were when I was in school.

Bullying effects a person long into adulthood. I know from first-hand experience. The teasing began when I was in 1st grade. No matter what I said or did or wore, it was mocked. It got so bad that after a while I retreated so far into myself I didn't speak to anyone unless I absolutely had to. It made me very distrustful of others, and it made me have zero self esteem. In 7th grade, the out and out bullying began. That's when a new girl started going to our small Catholic school. She started off being one of my few friends then turned against me when I didn't take her side in an argument she was having with another girl. She made my life a living hell until we graduated from high school. She completely ruined my high school experience. There were plenty of new kids at the high school. It could have been a new start for me but instead she succeeded in turning even more people against me.

I remember at one point there were rumors going around that she had a gun in her purse. I told a school guidance counselor that this frightened me, that it made me dread coming to school even more than I already did. I was told she was probably just telling people that and I was concerned over nothing. No investigation was ever done. They never even spoke to her. Thank God nothing happened because school officials decided to do nothing.

In those days, pre-Facebook and pre-cell phones, I was able to escape from the pain at home. Phoebe didn't have this luxury.

As I stated earlier, bullying effects someone long into adulthood. To this day, I have trust issues and I don't find it easy talking to people. When people ask me questions about myself, I wonder why they are asking. My self esteem didn't come back until after college. I had violent dreams for years, and when I feel I've been wronged by temper will flare. To this day, I wonder how I would have turned out if I hadn't gone through 12 years of torture at school. Would I have ended up more outgoing? Would I have ended up more trustful? Sadly, no matter what steps I make in the right direction, those scars from childhood are still present.

How many more kids have to suffer this way? How many more kids have to commit suicide or go shoot up their school for school officials to do something about bullying? We as parents need to let our voices be heard and let schools know we won't tolerate them turning a blind eye to bullying. Our children's futures depend on it.

You can read the Slate article here: http://www.slate.com/id/2249307/