Frankly, I can’t imagine who would go to work as a full time live-in educator for these families. It wouldn’t matter how much they were paid, it’d be a nightmare as an employee. Would you, a social worker, have lived in your clients’ houses 24/7? I wouldn’t have. I can’t think of anything more stressful than that.…

I had a case once where the mother (whose IQ I don’t recall off the top of my head but it hovered around 70 or so), even after all the parenting classes we arranged for her, could not understand that her 4-month-old couldn’t eat the happy meal hamburgers she brought to the visitation center with her. And that’s one…

I suspect that this couple from the article is unable to change, not unwilling. There’s a big difference.

In my state — not Oregon — if you’ve had parental rights terminated before, if the reason for termination is the same, any future children would be brought into custody right away and termination proceedings would begin immediately. I suspect there is something similar in Oregon. The parents were determined unfit…

I have a friend who discovered she was 6 months pregnant with her fourth child while she was at the doctor to get birth control pills. She truly had no idea she was pregnant.

She is great, really knows how to tell a story. Also, that outfit is everything!

Also, maybe a soupçon of Health Savings Account info pulled from a cobwebby part of his brain?

No. No one deserves to die a slow, painful death. But he and his cohort would cheerfully hand out that sentence to lots of their countryfolk. Too many people die today at home, without full treatment or palliative care not by choice, but because they don’t want to saddle their family with a mountain of medical debt. I…

So all the times McCain voted to screw over everyone not rich and white should disappear from our collective consciousness now that he has a medical diagnosis? No. He earned his legacy.

And yet votes with his party every single time. Perfect example of country over party.

He will die while under the best of medical care and/or palliative treatment. Many people in this country don’t have that option and he is part of the reason why.

I had two thoughts when I heard the news. The first was that his health insurance is protected in all of the bills the Senate has tried to pass.

It really is turtles all the way down, isn’t it?

I finished all my Christmas shopping last week thanks to Prime Day. (No kidding. Unless my mother-in-law comes up with a last minute Dirty Santa exchange or something.) Now the big trick is to hide the stuff I bought well enough so little hands don’t find it but not so well that, come December, I can’t remember what I…

I guess if he made those for adults, I wouldn’t need my fat pants any more.

I laughed hard at that last paragraph. It assumes (well, first it assumes there’s will be a wall but anyhoo):

I lost a three-month old kitten shortly after moving into a new house. He showed up on my porch seven months later, emaciated and with awful diarrhea. A trip to the vet, some antibiotics, and a quick few days off work to snuggle and care for him and he was fine. Could not believe it.

The West Wing. Hands down the best theme song for setting the mood. Gilligan’s Island comes in second. Third place goes to The X-Files. Honorable mention: Sens8. It would have ranked higher but it is really long. If they had cut it to 35 seconds or so, they probably could have saved enough money to afford a third…

You don’t know, though, do you?

Florida has a pretty strong CASA (layperson guardians ad litem) program, though. There is a good chance that this child will be appointed one.