Confession: I promised myself I’d never go back on WIC again – Women, Infants, and Children food and nutrition service. I used the program once before, for a foster son with special needs who lived entirely on Pediasure. He drank $10-$15 a day, and neither we nor his birth mother, to whom he was returning, […]
This is a continuation of my last post, In Defense of Bio Parents. Confession: Everybody says that foster care is “all about the child,” but the truth is that in my county it is all about the bio family. That means every reasonable effort will be made to a) avoid removing the child from his […]
If we dare to meet your eyes at this moment, it would help so much if we could see in them that you respect us – not because of what we’ve done or left undone, but because we are fellow humans going through the worst days of our lives. If you think we don’t care, or don’t feel, or don’t know this, you are wrong. We really, really messed up; and we do not expect to find mercy in this place.
Once upon a time, when I was twelve or thirteen years old, my father took me with him on a week-long speaking engagement to central Pennsylvania. The church was warmly welcoming, and I made some good friends, including an eighteen-year-old named Gloria who took me under her wing. She was so pretty and stylish, and […]
1. On the first day of vacation, My child said to me Mom, there’s cat poop all over the porch. 2. On the first day of vacation, My child said to me I thought it was just leaves and There’s cat poop all over the porch. 3. On the first day of vacation, My […]
Sheila J. Petre is one of my favorite Anabaptist writers. She has a delightful way with words, she’s human and fallible, and she’s shockingly funny. Sheila lives in Pennsylvania with her husband Michael and their seven children ages ten and under. In addition to nurturing these favorite people, she gardens, writes, laughs, hosts foreign exchange […]