Posts Tagged ‘children’
Lasso That Addiction
Last Updated on Thursday, 22 July 2010 10:50 Written by Monica Wednesday, 21 July 2010 02:50
In North Texas this week, a Utah man pleaded guilty in the death of his 5 year-old son back in December, 2008. A young boy, looking forward to a visit from Santa, instead went on to a higher place of excitement and eternity, leaving behind a heartbroken family. All because of a parent’s addiction to methadone.
This post is not about tearing down a father who, no matter what his sentence, will be serving his own self-inflicted life term. It is instead a post about how our addictions truly do affect those around us, and our younger children can become terminal victims by getting into the drugs we may have in our possession
When a person is addicted to drugs, when he or she is in the middle of that high, right and wrong, common sense, rationality, it all takes a back seat. Truthfully, have you ever woke up in the morning with a serious hangover from the night before, possibly not even remembering certain events? Did you ever smoke crack or take heroin and wake up, not necessarily remembering but instead, yearning for yet another fix?
If you are a parent of young children, or even if you have teenagers around, once you are out of touch with reality, you have no idea what they could be getting into. This does make you responsible. If you are lucky, nothing happens. At worst, maybe you catch your teenager stealing your cigarettes or some beer from the fridge and you ground him or her for simply following your actions. But if you aren’t so lucky, you could be like a North Texas family, a father from Utah, parents all over this country and others as well, losing a special blessing like little Lane, a bright and cheerful, smart and inquisitive young boy who already had dreams of what he wanted to do when he grew up. He wanted to be a cowboy.
If reading this makes you want to hug your own little ones a little closer, if it makes you want to re-think that addiction you secretly (or not so secretly) have, then don’t hesitate. Reach for the phone and make plans to get help now. Become what a parent truly is to a child, a hero who is always there. Do it for your sons, your daughters. Do it so that the death of little Lane was not in vain. If you make the decision to get clean based on the death of Lane Owen, you can know inside your own heart that he is up there looking down with a smile as he knows he has helped you win a tough competition, lassoing your addiction.
Tags: addiction, children, methadone, rehab teenagers | Posted under Texas Rehab | No Comments
Help is One Call Away
Last Updated on Wednesday, 31 March 2010 05:19 Written by Monica Wednesday, 31 March 2010 05:19
This article is especially hard for me to write because it is close to my heart. A few days ago, a friend of mine lost a very special member of his family, a child less than two years old. There were drugs found at the scene according to officials. The details are not all completely known and this article is not about that particular situation but about getting help before it is too late.
Texas offers rehab programs. If you are on drugs, you most likely can not get off of them on your own. Detoxing can even be dangerous if not done under medical supervision. I’m not sure just how to write this other than to be completely open and honest. Drugs can take over control and someone you care about can pay the ultimate price. You are worth more than that and so are the ones in your life who are affected by your decision to take drugs.
If life seems overwhelming, if day to day situations are too stressful, please know that you can get help at a Texas rehab center. Please know that if you are in another state, you can get help, too. The rehab center is not there to judge you, it is comprised of people who want to see you succeed in beating your addiction. Along with detoxing, you will have counseling, group therapy and classes to learn why you became addicted and how to avoid a relapse.
If you know of someone who is addicted, call a Texas rehab center and request help. Most likely, the counselor you are put together with will recommend an intervention. Have a counselor available at this very important meeting.
Whether you are setting up an intervention for a loved one or it is you personally who has the addiction, please get help. You will not only be saving a very special person, yourself (even if you do not see yourself that way, you ARE), and you quite possibly could be saving the lives of others at the same time. Children holler and act up. People on drugs have a higher stress level and can not handle that. Get help for that person and you will also be helping any children that person has or is around.
Help is one phone call away. Please do this for yourself and the children in your life. Do it in memory of a special little boy you never even knew. It will be one of the greatest steps you ever take and one that you will absolutely never regret.
Tags: children, counseling, drugs, gruop therapy, Texas rehab center | Posted under Texas Rehab | No Comments
Mentoring Children of Incarcerated Parents
Last Updated on Friday, 12 March 2010 08:25 Written by Monica Friday, 12 March 2010 08:25
As my children were growing up, two of the three had friends who had a parent in prison. All three had friends with a parent out of the picture entirely. The crimes were drug related. The children were wonderful, incredibly decent and any of them could knock on my door today and I would do whatever I could for them.
Not everyone feels that way. Some people turn up their noses at a young person who has a parent in prison. Some children are ashamed because of how it makes them feel. This is why mentoring programs are becoming more and more important.
Every person is an individual, someone independent of others. In families, some people can sing, some can draw, some can dance. Not every person is the same when it comes to the talent he or she possesses. Not every person is the same when it comes to the mistakes and bad choices made by other family members.
Mentoring programs are effective because they teach children and teens that they are not their parents. They can love their parents, it is quite natural and nothing to be ashamed of. They do not, however, have to follow the path a parent chooses. Dealing or taking drugs is not a family business. Just as not every person follows dad into the medical field or mom into the legal field, a parent in prison can be just that: a parent in prison. You love him or her. You do not have to be him or her. Most parents who find themselves incarcerated have a lot of time to think and realize that they do not want their children to end up like them.
If you or someone you know has a parent incarcerated in the Texas prison system, check out a mentoring program for his or her children. Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Girl Scouts Behind Bars, Center for Children of Incarcerated Parents, Family Forward, Connect for Kids: these are just a few of the mentoring programs available for children growing up with a parent in prison. Find out which programs are near the child in question. If you do not know of one of these in your area, call the local welfare department and ask them or the prison in which the parent resides.
Children are always worth saving. None of us are perfect and we need to understand that every person is an individual and deserves the right to have a chance in life, no matter what the family background is. If it were your child, you want him or her to have every chance, right? Help a child today: sign up or find out where help is for a child you know who has a parent in prison.
Tags: children, dealing drugs, incarcerated, mentoring program, parent | Posted under Texas Rehab | 1 Comment
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