Death is brutal in its finality...

I haven't posted on this blog in a long time. My girls grew up, went off to college , graduated and moved out to start their own lives. So I wasn't being confronted with the day to day struggles of children in the public school system. The recent death of my nephew who was like a son to me got me thinking about our roles as parents. We are always parents to our children no matter how old they are and where life takes them. My nephew was 42 and he died of cardiac arrest brought on by kidney failure. We were in the process of organizing an effort to find a kidney donor for him but he didn't make it. His name was Kirk and he was wonderfully talented and charismatic. He made a lot of decisions in his life that I didn't agree with and which held him back from reaching his full potential. I tired tough love with him because I didn't want to enable him in his bad decision making. Looking back now I wish I had made sure he knew that while I was rejecting some of his bad decisions I was in no way rejecting him. I hope he knew how much I loved him and how proud I was of his efforts to get his life back on track. Parents if you have a difficult child and you have decided to use tough love so that you don't enable destructive behavior, please let your children know how much you love them. Please let them know that you don't reject them, let them know that they are precious and that they matter to you. Death is brutal in its finality. After they are gone it is too late.

I despair

I despair about the world that my grandchildren will inherit. We are living in a time when our young men learn about sex by watching pornography and where our young girls are being sexualized at an earlier and earlier age. What can concerned parents do?

I despair sometimes about the life my grandchildren will inherit. We are creating a world where young boys are learning about sex by watchcing pornography and where our young girls are being sexualized at an earlier and earlier age. What can concerned parents do?

Thoughts on Parenting by a Black Mother: It has been a long time since I posted anything o...

Thoughts on Parenting by a Black Mother:
It has been a long time since I posted anything o...: It has been a long time since I posted anything on this blog...life got in the way and my two girls grew up and are now both in College. A n...

It has been a long time since I posted anything on this blog...life got in the way and my two girls grew up and are now both in College. A new set of concerns now fills my thoughts as the mother of women in college. We hear all the stories of binge drinking and sexual abuse of women in college. Have we created a culture in which young men, raised on pornography and sexualised images everywhere view women as fair game for sexual exploits? Do our young women allow themselves to be put in vulnerable situations to find acceptance and "love"?

How can I empower my daughters without making therm afraid and close minded?

Who are the role models for our girls? Is it Miley Cyrus? She wants to start a movement?? Mothers should start a movement of their own we need to commit ourselves to being the role models for our daughters of what a strong empowered woman looks like. If we don't fill that role then it is left to the likes of Miley Cyrus to be an inspiration? for our girls. is that what we want as mothers?

Prom time is coming up, Mothers are we counselling our daughters on their self worth rather than sexual objects to be ogled,pawed and hooked up with on Prom Night.
Take the opportunity to make this a lesson in empowerment for our daughters!

@audreyaheslop