Tag: child

  • Rapist Awarded Joint Legal Custody

    A  judge in America has granted parenting time and joint legal custody of an 8-year-old boy to a convicted sex offender who allegedly raped the child’s mother nine years ago.

    Christopher Mirasolo, 27, was awarded joint legal custody by a Judge after DNA testing established paternity of the child.

    It was prompted after the county surveyed the victim regarding child support she had received this past year.

    The victim’s lawyer said “He was never properly charged and should still be sitting behind bars somewhere, but the system is victimizing my client, who was a child herself when this all happened.”

    According to Kiessling, Mirasolo forcibly raped and threatened to kill her client, now 21, nine years ago when the woman was 12. Mirasolo was 18 when the incident occurred in September 2008.

    “She, her 13-year-old sister and a friend all slipped out of their house one night to meet a boy and the boy’s older friend, Mirasolo, showed up and asked if they wanted to go for a ride,” said Kiessling. “They thought they were going to McDonald’s or somewhere.

    “Instead, he tossed their phones away, drove to Detroit where he stole petrol from a station and then drove back to Sanilac County, where he kept them captive for two days in a vacant house near a relative, finally releasing the older sister in a park. He threatened to kill them if they told anyone what happened.”

    Mirasolo was arrested a month later, she said, when her client was pregnant.

    Mirasolo was sentenced to one year in the county jail but only served six and a half months before early release so he could care for his sick mother.

    Meanwhile, the rape victim’s family suggested abortion or giving the child up for adoption. She did neither.

    “To her credit, she said she didn’t want the baby to be a victim, too,” said Kiessling. “She dropped out of school, went to live with relatives out of state and worked jobs to try and support herself.”

     

  • Free Legoland Tickets If You’ve Got One Of These Names

    Fancy free tickets to Legoland this October? You might just be in luck! 

    If you, or your baby has the same name as one of the Lego Ninjango movie’s characters, the Legoland resort in Windsor is giving away free tickets, eeek how exciting .

    The names aren’t too common though , but if your baby is called:

    • Lloyd

    • Kai

    • Jay

    • Nya

    • Zane

    •  Cole

    You are in luck! The free tickets will be available from 13th October, when the film is released, to the 30th October. 

    Finally, don’t forget to take along proof of identity for you or your child if you are going to take advantage of this offer. According to the terms and conditions, the offer only applies to the person with the same name as the character, so you will still need to buy a full price ticket even if your tot gets in for free. 

    It is probably cheaper to change your name than a ticket to get in lol

     

  • I Wish Mummy Didn’t Kill me 

    I wish mummy didn’t kill me!

    This is a story about a young boy with a huge heart. And it’s a story that everyone should read and share.
    The story is about James, but ultimately, it isn’t about him. It is, about millions of other children like James, living the same nightmare across the entire world today.

    This story of James is fictional, its message hit me right in the heart . We must not ignore this issue or message.

    We must not forget James.
    My name is James and I am  6-years-old. I love my mummy and daddy, but I’m also very scared of them. They often hit me and I don’t understand or know why.


    This morning I woke up and went to school. I am good learning and do as I’m told and my teacher likes me.


    I like all my classmates, too, but I have no friends. That’s why I usually stay indoors during breaks. Nobody wants to play with me. I tried to make friends with the other children, but they said No and also said I was disgusting.


    They laugh at me because I wear the same worn-out jeans, t-shirt and torn shoes every day.


    One day after school I went into the coat room and stole a jacket that was hanging there for a long time, nobody seemed to be missing it. Then I went home alone through the snowstorm. I was shivering with cold and it was hard to walk against the strong wind. Suddenly someone pushed me forward, I fell down in the snow and someone pressed my face into it. Then they said:


    “No one likes you. Idiot!”


    They kicked me in my back and in my stomach, then they ran away and left me in the cold snow.

    I cried. Not because I was cold or injured, I cried because I did not have a single friend, even though I liked everyone else.


    As soon as I got home, my mummy ran over and grabbed me by the hair.


    “Where have you been? Why are you so wet and dirty? Bloody kid, no dinner for you, go to your room and stay there.”


    I did as my mummy told me, I went into my room and did not get out until the next day, although I was very hungry and freezing cold.


    My school work got worse and worse, and every time daddy was informed, he hit me hard. Once he hit me so hard that I could not move my index finger, I never got back the movement in my index finger and all the children laughed at me for it.

    Time went by and one day I got a lot of pain in my chest.


    Mummy and daddy did not care I was hurt. In the evening I lay in my bed and I only wanted one thing. I wish I would not hurt more, because I did not want to annoy Mummy and Daddy. I love them so much, I really do.


    The next day at school we were told to paint our biggest dream. The other children painted cars, rockets and nice dolls. I did not.


    Not because I don’t like those things, but because what I wished for most of all was a loving mummy and daddy. So I painted a family. One mummy, one daddy and their son. They played games and everyone was happy. As I painted, I cried silently. I would love to have a mummy and daddy who loved me.


    When it was my turn to show  my painting for the class, everyone laughed at me.

    I stood in front of the class and explained:


    “My biggest dream is a loving family”.


    The laughs got louder. I began to cry and said,

    “Please don’t laugh at me, this is my biggest dream! You can hit me, you can hate me, but I beg you, please don’t laugh at me.

    I want parents like you have, that hug and laugh with me, who pick me up after school and are happy to see me. I know I’m ugly and weak, I know I have a crooked finger, but please don’t laugh at me.”


    The teacher tried to wipe my tears, I think some children understood me, but many continued to laugh.


    One day when I got a test back, I immediately saw that I had a bad result. I knew my mummy would be very upset.


    I was afraid to go home, but I did not know where else I would go. I slowly walked home, but I did not want to arrive. My mummy became furious.


    She grabbed me and threw me on the floor, I hit my leg hard on a chair.


    Then she hit me in my head twice. I just lay there, I could not get up. It really hurt. But mummy just left me there on the floor.


    When she came back she told me to clean up the mess, otherwise when Daddy came home he would really beat me.


    I begged Mummy not to say anything to him, but when I looked up, I saw that he was already in the doorway.


    When Mummy told him about the test, he pulled me up from the floor, he shook me and hit my face.

    I don’t remember anything after this. I woke up in the hospital. I looked at my hand, I could not touch any of my five fingers. I looked out the window and cried.


    Outside, I saw parents playing with their children, throwing balls together and hugging.


    Do you know why I cried?

    I don’t know how a hug from my mom feels like. My parents just beat me, but I love them anyway. I’ve always done my best, I’ve been good at school, but they do not like me still.


    One day I spilled some of my water, then they hit me again.


    Suddenly I got pain in my chest again. I told my mummy – but she did not care. After a while, I had to go to the hospital again, no one came and saw me.


    The doctor said that mum and dad would probably come the next day, but they did not. I waited and waited, but nobody came. I love my parents anyway.

    Two days later, James died of his injuries. In his hand the doctors found a letter that he had not written clearly.

    “Dear mummy and daddy, I’m terrified because I’m ugly, disgusting and stupid. I’m sorry because you can not love me.


    I never wanted to annoy you. All I wanted was to get a hug and hug from mummy, and hear that you loved me once. Daddy I just wanted you to play with me, hold my hand for a walk or sing for me.


    I know I’m a shame for you. I will never be those things.“


    Then James’s little heart stopped.


    This story was originally written in Russian. I’m not sure if it’s been true, but I think that matters little. It’s incredibly important anyway!


    All children are entitled to be loved. Still child abuse happens every second, every minute, every hour and every day. In all countries, all cities and all schools.


    A child’s home should be free from violence and a safe place. Children need love, tenderness and closeness, and a hug can sometimes be worth a lot more than you could ever imagine.


    Please share this story with all your friends on Facebook to remind everyone that no child should ever feel hurt or unloved.

    If you suspect a child is being abuse don’t hesitate in reporting it: https://www.gov.uk/report-child-abuse

  • I’m Not Even Sorry You Miss Your Child

    Here we go again.

    It’s 09:26am and I’m sat here once again with a coffee in hand, admiring my daughter playing with her toys, fighting back the tears, wondering what my child did so badly to deserve to be put second by her ‘father’.

    He was supposed to be here at 08:00am.
    After two weeks working away and missing his daughter, he couldn’t make it last night because he was stuck at the barbers; a BARBERS.
    No awful road accident, nobody had died, he hadn’t lost a limb and he was still very much alive.
    These should be the only things stopping a parent from seeing their child, the only things.
    I did my usual and offered him a time slot for this morning; I compromised, because that’s what co-parenting is about, right?
    So, yeah, he’s not turned up at the agreed time.
    Why?

    Because he’s in bed after going on a drink and drugs binge last night, so he’s not fit to even care for my child.
    This isn’t the first time it’s happened, but it’s the last; I’ll make damn sure of that.

    Nearly two years of inconsistency and excuses – how long am I supposed to wait for someone to change? If they don’t want to change for their child, who will they change for?
    I’d have agreed to a later time, but he’s in a hurry to visit his new girlfriend at 12pm and she’s a 5 hour drive away – now tell me, who comes first?
    Call me a bitch, whatever – I’m out of f***s now.

    Why are people so quick to call a mother names for stopping contact between a father and their child?
    “Don’t stop contact, she’ll find out for herself when she’s older.”
    I would usually apologise but I’m past giving a rats arse – why do I want to give my daughter a childhood that she has to recover from?
    Why should I place her in to the firing line of an emotionally abusive, lying, manipulative and drug abusing, lousy excuse for a human being?
    She won’t thank me when she’s on medication or in therapy, when she goes through endless toxic relationships because she thinks this behaviour is normal.
    Why would any parent allow this?!

    In actual fact, I’m a bad parent for allowing contact if anything.
    Children aside, do you have any idea how much damage this also does to the mother? The person actually taking full responsibility of the child takes an emotional beating too, because all she wants to do is protect their child from hurt, pain or sufferance and she has to constantly pick up the pieces all the time.

    How can a mother be happy if her children are hurting?
    It’s a mother’s instinct to prevent unnecessary injury to their child; physically and emotionally.
    You wouldn’t allow another child to bully your child and you wouldn’t encourage them to be in their life, that’s for sure; so why is this different?

    In fact, it’s worse.

    It’s worse because a parent is supposed to be a role model; they’re the people who set examples for how we’re supposed to be treated – how can we do that if our own parents have no respect for us?
    Do I wait until she’s old enough to understand or do I shield her from years of disappointment, lies, hurt and wondering why she’s not good enough?
    You’ve already answered that yourself.
    No child should ever feel like they’re not worth it and I’ll fight until my last breath if it means them never having to feel like they’re not good enough.
    Today was the day I fell to pieces in front of my child and I will never forgive you.

    This picture was taken whilst writing this:

    I'm Not Even Sorry You Miss Your Child
    I’m Not Even Sorry You Miss Your Child

    Credit: https://theunicorninblack.com/

  • What’s The Time Mr.Wolf Should Not Be Played

    This is what I was witness to this week whilst taking my own children to school.

    An elderly childminder is looking after four children aged five to seven years of age and is standing in the school playground holding multiple bags and chatting away to her friend.

    Whilst the childminder awaits the school doors opening the children are getting bored so they begin to play a childhood favourite, What’s the time Mr.Wolf.

    Sounds harmless doesn’t it, as the children play one becomes the wolf and roars, close by a child of Four whom is unknown to the childminder begins to cry.

    The mother of said child comes over to comfort the girl, hugging her and telling her everything is okay and to stay away from “them mean children”

    After sometime the mother turns from a comforting mum to an enraged woman, demanding that the childminder stops the children from playing a game which is clearly scaring her small child who is now sat on the playground floor sucking her thumb and whimpering.

    Childminder pleads her case and explains that the children are playing a harmless game and maybe her child should try to join in or alternatively move away from them and play on some of the play equipment.

    The mother doesn’t like this and says if the childminder does not do anything to stop them she will take further action and ensure everyone who is willing to listen knows that the childminder is a bully and unfit to care for small children.

    Childminder looks defeated  and equally shocked and gives in and asks the children to cease playing this seemingly harmless game.

    The mother then returns to her friends to bad mouth the childminder and says that What the time Mr.Wolf is too scary for small children and she thinks it should be banned.

    The mother then picks her whimpering child up telling her everything is okay now and she is safe, the mother has to carry her child through the school door as she is still so upset.

    Who is in the right here?

    Should a game be stopped for one child?

    The little girl is scared but does that warrant other children from playing?

    Is this child extra sensitive due to her up bringing?

  • Button Battery Know The Dangers

     

    Button battery know the dangers.

    Eric Boggess has shared the effects of button batteries, do you know the dangers of button batteries?

    I for one will most certainly be making sure one are locked away.

    “So, I saw this idea at an Emergency Medicine Conference this weekend. Thought I would try it out and share the results. This is what happens to a hot dog when a button battery is placed inside for only two hours. Now, imagine this being the inside of your child/infant/toddler’s stomach or intestine. Within only a few hours it can cause a perforation (hole) within the stomach lining. So here’s the PSA, if you have a child that has swallowed one or you are concerned may have swallowed one, go immediately to the ER. Please, keep out of the reach of children, along with toys and electronic devices which use these batteries. Please share”.

    Button battery damage
    Before
    Button battery damage
    Two hours in
    Button battery damage
    Taken out
    Button battery damage
    Hotog cut in half, see the damage?

     

  • This Is Why Car Seats Matter 

    Jenna Casado has taken to Facebook to raise awareness on car seat safety:

    I’m not one to post anything too heavy or personal on Facebook but guys… THIS is why you buckle your kids into their car seats correctly every SINGLE time. Even when they scream because the straps are tight. Even when they complain about the chest clip or being rear facing. We stopped for milk on the way home from preschool yesterday. We were minutes from home. Someone sped through a red light and slammed into us. You never think it will happen to you. My boys escaped without a scratch but the paramedics told me it could have been very different had I not taken the extra 2 minutes to be sure they were buckled correctly. I will be fine, my kids are fine, everything else can be replaced. Sending thanks to God for keeping us safe (along with Honda, Graco & Chicco).

  • I Wish My Son Was Never Born

    Call Reddit user Dislikemythird a “horrible person” — and she’ll agree with you.

    According to a recent post on the social media site, Dislikemythird loves her two daughters but does not like her 3-and-a-half-year-old son “at all.”

    She explained:

    It all starts with the fact that my daughters were very much planned and wanted pregnancies. My son was not. I didn’t realize I was pregnant until 16 weeks when I first felt the baby move.

     

    She continued:

    I sobbed my eyes out when I realized I was pregnant because I didn’t want to be pregnant again, hence the birth control, and it was too late for an abortion anywhere in my country. I probably would have had one, to be honest. Both my husband and I were pretty adamant we didn’t want more babies. I hated the baby/toddler stage with my daughters and with them being 3 and 4.5 at the time, it was like having a prison sentence extended right before freedom.

     

    The Reddit user admitted that she was finally starting to really enjoy her two oldest children and finally got on the right path in her career. So when she learned that she was pregnant with her son, it threw everything off track again.

    And to make matters worse, her son never slept through the night. He suffered from reflux and colic, and she said it nearly ruined her marriage:

    I can honestly say it nearly broke my husband and I’s marriage apart. At one point, we didn’t sleep in the same bed with one another for months, because we had to take shifts sleeping at a friend or sibling’s home with the girls because he screamed that badly they couldn’t sleep. We tried numerous doctors, and nothing helped, we just had to wait for him to grow out of it.

     

    She and her husband resented their son for so much, and she admitted they even wished horrible things on his health and considered adoption at one point. But how could she explain keeping two and giving away one?

    She wrote:

    I don’t want to be insensitive to anyone who has suffered a loss in this way, but I have to be honest, my husband and I both had a period where if he had of died in his sleep, we would have felt relief. At one point, I googled if we could still put him in the “baby hatches” our country has. He was too old. But again, how would we explain to everyone, including the girls, why we had a baby and then suddenly didn’t. I sobbed. I wished more than anything I realised I was pregnant earlier and could have had the abortion I wanted. I feel like my ability to bond with him was shot to hell by the fact he was just such a difficult baby. I honestly hated him for the first 18 months of his life.

     

    Dislikemythird acknowledged on Reddit just how awful it sounded to say that she “hated” her own son and that while she loves spending time with her daughters and doing things with them, she only does things for her son because she has to:

    Now he is three-and-a-half years old and even though he has now outgrown all that, and is pretty chill, I still just don’t like him. I am struggling to bond with him or even like him because I’m having trouble separating him from the memories of my marriage almost falling apart and my career being absolutely destroyed by having him and just the feelings that he was “forced” onto me by a birth control failure. My husband isn’t struggling to the same extent as I am, but has confessed he wishes our son “didn’t happen” because things were “better” before. Things have also been a lot more financially strained, and there he fact that we now have three kids to provide for and not two. Thankfully, we managed to save our marriage, but we both agree that we’d undo our son in a heartbeat if we could.

     

    The Reddit user continued by saying she has visited two therapists since her son’s birth, and all of them simply told her to “fake it till she made it,” but that hasn’t worked in her.

    Again, I am well aware I am going “mess him up” and he’ll grow up feeling like the least favorite child and all of that. I feel guilty about it and don’t want to feel this way, which is why I’m here.

     

    Dislikemythird is hoping that by being honest about her feelings toward her son, she can get advice from someone who will make her feel differently about her son. She hates feeling this way and understands that he deserves better from her.

  • When Should You Stop Breastfeeding?

    Women come under a lot of scrutiny when it comes to breastfeeding. There are those who are shamed for doing it in public, those who are corrected for doing it wrong, and those who are criticized for not doing it at all. And then there are those who continue to do it even when their child is old enough to talk in full sentences.

    Davina Wright, a mother of five who lives in New Zealand, wrote a blog post for The Milk Meg about continuing to breastfeed her triplets who are now five years old.


    “I have often heard, ‘oh you’re just doing it for you now, it’s not about the children,’ but in all honesty I would be happy if they weaned now,” she wrote. “I am big on letting the child decide when they are ready to wean.”


    Her post raises the question about whether there should be a cut-off age for breastfeeding children.


    “It’s a controversial topic in North America and Europe, for sure,” says Stefanie Carrabin, a certified lactation consultant and breastfeeding expert. “But the immunobiology benefits are huge. Anything the mother is exposed to will be processed in her body, which will then build antibodies that will be passed on through the breast milk. It’s like an ongoing vaccination.”


    Health Canada recommends exclusive breastfeeding of infants up to six months old, and extends its recommendation to two years and beyond with appropriate complementary nutrition.


    “People always ignore the ‘two years and beyond‘ recommendation,” Carrabin says. “It’s basically saying there are no limits.”


    Breastfeeding advocates also question what we consider to be generally accepted norms when it comes to nutrition.



     

    “Most people in our society recognize that young children drinking milk is a good idea, but there’s a bizarre shift in thinking human milk is harmful and bovine milk is better,” says Genia Stephen, a midwife and lactation consultant. “Cow’s milk is not optimally designed for humans, whereas human milk is. The immune and growth factors in breast milk change intrinsically as the child ages. Breast milk produced for a four-month-old is different than breast milk produced for a four-year-old.”


    There’s a common misconception that toddlers who continue to breastfeed are less independent and “clingy.” But professionals, medical and holistic alike, are quick to quash that perception.


    “The child who breastfeeds until he weans himself — usually from two to four years — is usually more independent, and more secure in his independence,” writes Dr. Jack Newman, a pediatrician and executive director of the International Breastfeeding Centre. “He has received comfort and security from the breast until he is ready to make the step himself to stop. And when a child makes that step himself, it is a milestone in his life of which he is proud.”


    “Of course, breastfeeding can, in some situations, be used to foster an over-dependent relationship. But so can food or toilet training. The problem is not the breastfeeding. This is another issue.”


    Experts say that it all boils down to personal preference. And it’s a decision that women and their children should be able to make without judgement or criticism.


    “The looks and comments that mothers who are breastfeeding their toddler children in public receive are demeaning,” says Carrabin. “That’s not about the mother, it’s about other people and their reactions.”

  • Every Parents Morning Struggle 

    Ahh mornings. 🎉

    To be honest I’ve always been an early to rise sort of person so getting up early isn’t a problem. 


    However, how I used to wake up is much much different to the current way I’m ripped from the depths of slumber and dragged into the morning light, barely clothed and afraid. 


    See, time was I used to wake like most folk; quietly, smoothly transitioning from sleep to woken, gradually adjust to the natural light from the windows and then the harsh interior home lighting. 


    Good times. 


    Waking with a child…😬🎉🎉🔥💀


    I scarcely stir mere moments before a small version of myself crashes into the room, head first, as if she’s taking point on the biggest crime bust of the century and she’s not going to let the other guys take the credit; the only difference is she’s yelling ‘daddy’ instead of ‘police!’.


    Already starting to trip balls as my system shifts the wake up routine into overdrive, Dave in the adrenaline department opens the valve all the way open. 


    From here, I can barely just start to make out the small shape making all the noise when BLAM! the overhead big lights flash on and my retinas scream as they 100% fail to cope with the binary change from zero light to ALL THE LIGHT! 💀


    Just as the pain subsides and I wonder if the small one has accompanied her door kicking with a military-grade flashbang, I then discover what it’s like to be a trampoline, as it proceeds to further proclaim the arrival of morning with a spot of jumping on and around my prone form…


    #InsiderTip set your alarm 10 mins before you know the small interrogator is due to arrive prepare you body for the coming assault. 


    Happy Morning everyone 👌🏻


    Credit@ Diaries of a disgruntled dad