Goings on

...and happenings...

Let's see, August is the month of my daughter's birth... she will be 4!!! Wow. I can't believe how fast time has flown by. I still am not quite sure what to do for her birthday party, but hopefully, I'll figure that out by early next week.

T's school starts back this month, too. She's reading "In Cold Blood" (Capote) as her summer reading and that has to be done by the first day of school.

I just finished a fairly sad book called "Damaged" by Cathy Glass. It is about a girl who is in the foster system. She was horribly abused by her parents before entering the system and she suffers very disturbing behavior(s) after being placed with her 5th foster mother. Cathy, the FM, tries all she can to help, and Jodie lives with her for over a year. But in the end Jodie's problems require intensive round-the-clock therapy, and the state decides to move her. But the book describes in detail her tantrums, hitting, biting, night terrors, defecating, learning disabilities, and split personalities that emerge from the abuse.

I didn't think I'd get through it; this book was sad. It shows the extreme behaviors that come from abuse... even from a very young age (hers started at 18 months or younger). Children can be so very broken by things that their parents and/or other adults do to them. It's scary. Actually, maybe all would-be parents should read this!

The thing I noticed is how lonely Cathy felt while going through all this. She didn't have any real support, except from her other children. She didn't have any support from her social worker either, and it surprises me she managed to keep it together for so long. She also felt like she wasn't helping Jodie, and after all the time they spent together she realized that Jodie didn't attach to her. I can relate to those feelings of "am I really helping here?", albeit on a much, much smaller scale. Her situation was beyond amazingly difficult.

Anyway, I'd recommend this book. It would be a bit frightening of a read for someone who didn't know what all can happen to children... but it's a great story of determination and even though she didn't feel like she helped Jodie, she at least tried. So many people won't even dare go that far.

Peace.