Raising other peoples kids...

I'd like to thank those, who have over the years and generations, so selflessly decided to MAN-UP on someone else's behalf (in a lot of cases not all) to take care of and raise children who are not your own. I too was raised by grandparents, aunts, etc. all at one point in time, as well as my parents.

A couple of months ago I was out with a close friend, who I ran into at the grocery store. She and I walked the aisles and talked, catching up on the latest happenings in our lives since we last spoke. I could tell something was wrong, she looked so stressed out and tired, just beat down. I asked what was going on with her and she just gave me this desperate look, "J I don't know what to do, I'm so tired! I'm tired of trying to be everything for everybody, I am doing fine taking care of my child but I cannot afford to take care of someone else kids too, but at the same time that's my family what else can I do?"

My friend who is barely 21-22 years old herself, with a 2year old son, is now charged with the responsibility of raising her teenage sibling on her own. Its tough to see, and I can imagine even tougher to do.

However, it seems like there is a growing trend now, with parents who had children when they were really young, now deciding that they want to go back in time and recapture the childhood that they missed out on or lost. Not saying that this is the case with my friends' parents. I see this situation a lot with some of the children I work with, these kids are basically raising themselves or being raised by family members while the parents choose men/women, drugs, their career, friends and partying etc over their kids....and in turn the kids act out and end up here with me, in juvenile detention. Like i said this is not always the case, this just happens to be on my mind today.

My heart just goes out to my friend and I pray the best for her. She is very responsible and courageous for taking on the challenge she has taken on. And honestly, I can't blame or fault her, b/c I would do the same thing in a minute probably. I'm glad someone stepped in and did it for me!