They call themselves parents?

I am sure that you can imagine how much TV I have been watching for the last week and a few days. I have been reading some as well, but for the most part TV has been my constant companion. In these few days, some things have caught my eye that have totally astounded me. I will be the first to tell you that parenting is hard! Having a child that has special needs to some degree adds to Tim and my challenge, but still, it isn't rocket science. Our kids are well adjusted, happy, have friends and love everyone they know to the fullest extent possible for kids their age. I would like to think that Tim and I have fostered this, but we both know that God gets FULL credit for anything good that ever comes out of their precious lives. One thing that I have learned over the 7.5 years of being a parent is they are going to mimic you, good or bad. This being said, I really try to be a good person. Tim doesn't have to try, because he is a good person, but for me it takes some effort and thought. Anyway, back to the TV point, some things that I have seen on TV lately astound me about people's choices. Take the fact that they are parents and that adds on a whole new level of "Are You FREAKING kidding me?" into the equation. Here are two of the main things that stick out in my head that have inspired this blog.

#1 Have you heard about the 13 year old girl, Megan Meier that committed suicide? It has been awhile since it happened and her parents have been all over the television circuit telling their story. http://www.drphil.com/shows/show/1003 This is the link to the episode on Dr. Phil that her parents were on. Apparently what happened was another parent in their neighborhood created a fake boy, contacted Megan on Facebook, and became her "friend". Then as quickly as this "boy" befriended her "he" turned on her and started saying and posting all kinds of horrible things to and about her. Megan had already been struggling with depression and this was the proverbial straw that broke her, and she hung herself in her bedroom. When the adult that had created the "boy" was asked to defend herself, she gave some horrifically lame excuse that she wanted to see what bad things Megan was saying about her daughter on the Internet. Seriously, that is the gist of what she said in response to this child killing herself due to her actions. I will add that when I saw the lady interviewed (not on Dr. Phil) she didn't even seem too remorseful about her part in Megan's death, but blamed it on her depression. I have to say that I just don't get it. At what point in this lady's mind did any of this add up to responsible adult behavior? How about watching her Facebook page to see what she was saying, and then IF she was saying anything bad about your child deal with it like an adult? I would be inclined to do something along the lines of (and this is just off the cuff here) printing out what she found and going to the child and her parents to discuss what was being said. Sadly, but understandably Megan's parents are the angriest, saddest people that I have ever seen. This mom is eaten up with hatred toward this lady. I am not saying this accusingly, because I can't imagine what I would do to that lady. Actually, I can imagine exactly what I would do to her and most of the options would land me behind actual bars, and not the invisible ones this lady is living behind. You just have to wonder how this lady sleeps at night, does she regret acting like a 7th grader, and what is she telling her daughter about the consequences of her actions. That is enough about that except to say that. I hope that you will join me in adding Megan's parents to your prayers. I pray that some day they will find a peace that they don't have now. The peace that can only be found in our Prince of Peace.

#2 Did you hear about the 6 year old child who wrote the letter to the Hannah Montana concert ticket contest? She won the contest on a letter that was 100% totally and completely a lie. She wrote about how her dad had been killed on active duty in Iraq, and that the ticket contest would really make her happy since she had suffered this terrible loss. It was all a lie! Okay, so I have a 7 year old and granted Claire isn't on the same level as a lot of kids her age, but I would still like to thing that even the girls at top of the charts would not be able to come up with a whopper like that! Are you kidding me? You know that the mother had to have spoon fed (if she didn't just write it herself to begin with) every line of that letter. When it all came to light and she was questioned about their actions she called it "fiction". She said that they did what they had to do to win. She went on with that they didn't see what they did any differently than making up a fairy tale. Wow, so all of you now single mothers out there who actually did lose your children's father while they were serving our country in Iraq, your life is like a fairy tale according to this lady. I am sure that those ladies see it a little differently to say the least! http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa080104_wz_hannahletter.b77036a.html

I feel sorry for the children involved here too. They are the ones that are suffering the most and will for their entire lives. They unfortunately have parents that lack the maturity and wherewithal to raise them to be decent humans. They are going to suffer for their parents selfishness. It scares me to death to think about the generation of children out there that are being raised by people from my generation! God help us to raise up our children to be productive, honest and decent humans, and please protect our children from those who's parents didn't seem to find those as qualities they wanted for their children!

On a side note, I received a survey in the mail from Baptist hospital regarding my recent stay. They wanted to know how they did at meeting my needs as a patient...boy are they not going to like what I have to say!