Terminal illness makes you an unfit parent...The Alaina Giordano Case

I am pretty pissed off this morning. I like Mike Galanos of Headline News on my Facebook Page and one of the stories highlighted on his feed is the case of Alaina Giordano. She is a single mom of two who was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. She divorced her husband  a year or so ago, he moved to Chicago. She stayed in Durham, North Carolina where she is receiving treatment at Duke for her illness. The female judge cited the fact that her terminal illness was a deciding factor in giving custody to the children's father. As Alaina Giordano herself said on a recent interview, none of us knows when we are going to die. The judge also cited that she was unemployed, shes been making it financially so far so thats just a buncha caca. My issue is that she left her husband because he was abusive...don't know all of the details but she was diagnosed prior to her divorce. Is he really the fit parent of the two? He has a job, that is not going to make him a better parent...the judge even said it would be easier for her to move to Chicago..what an asinine comment!
If her ex had any concern for his kids he would not be dragging their mother through court at a time like this and instead think of their  mental well being. Its devastating enough to know that your mother is going to die from a disease like Cancer, let alone to know that you may not be there to make those memories that would keep her alive in you. Her children are quite young 11, and almost 6, impressionable and so needing their Mom at this age. I would wish that he move to where she lives, that he have the compassion to think of the mother of his children as someone he once loved. Together they could work on the future of their kids, that he allow them this time with her no matter how long, 5 months or 20 years. After all they, the kids, are what is important here.
If this ruling is allowed to stand think of the precedent it would set, that a parent with a terminal illness, cancer, AIDS, or worse yet degenerative diseases like MS and or Parkinson's could risk losing the custody of their children.What do you think?

BOOBIES BRACELET UPROAR......

So I recently read and retweeted an article about the two girls from Pennsylvania who took their school district to U.S. Court with a case of free speech. The two young women took their school to court for suspending them for wearing the infamous "I heart boobies" bracelet that has become popular amongst teens and tweens in the last 6 months. The girls were called into the principals office for a dresscode violation in October when they refused to take the bracelets off. They were suspended for what amounted to defiance and disruption. The girls mom's filed a case back in November. It was heard in December. The case will be decided in early January and if it is decided in favor of the girls, I will gladly send my daughters to school wearing them.

Really now why get your panties in a bunch over the term "boobies" and especially in school.It is the recipe for rebellion,the more you pay attention to a behavior you deem negative the more of it your kid does, I learned that in Child Development. Come on now shouldn't you be worried about the kids who call my daughter a bitch or a dike? The very kids who would take the term "boobie" and make it well, "explicit" in their little tweener minds. My fifteen year old daughter wore one all summer and I recently allowed my 11 year old daughter to buy one. I asked her why she wanted one and her answer was classic "they are cool and everyone has one," then she added without prompting from me, "they raise awareness for breast cancer." I love my smart kid. I only allowed her to wear it on weekends or after school, because her school will cut them off of the kids and though they only cost $4.00 I wanted her to understand that she should follow the rules.  Do I think that the two students from Pennsylvania were breaking the rules?

No I don't, and I wholeheartedly support their stance. I just kick myself that I didn't think of taking our school district to court! Seriously I think society is just one big contradiction. They let Victoria's Secret Fashion shows be shown on TV during the family hour, but they won't show a woman breastfeeding on the boobtube, sorry I could not resist. I mean no one complained when Pamela Anderson was bouncing her way across the beach to save someone with her inflated tube thingie. Breasts have become something they are and are not. Their primary purpose is to feed and nurture and I proudly breastfed all of my daughters, which probably accounts for their boob fascination. My daughter even breastfed my grandson for a little while. Aside from natures intentions and I do think nature intended for men to look at breasts or they would have had some like women, is the fact that they are part of what makes a woman attractive. The female form is built the way it is for a reason. I personally like being sexy on occassion showing some cleavage or maybe wearing a fitted top that covers me entirely and leaves more to the imagination. Breasts are something that signal your womanhood and I am proud of mine for hanging on this long. Way to go girls!

I have not had anyone close to me get breast cancer, but my daughters and I know someone who lost their father to breast cancer, yes men get it too. Breast cancer does not care if you are a man or woman or if you have large boobs or small ones. So why should the school care if my kid wears a bracelet that raises awareness with a term they deem disruptive. Kids wear all kinds of disrupting clothing. They are kids, they are going to test the limits of authority. What they don't realize at this age is that one day they will grow up and say man I was a dumbass look at what I had on? Then too maybe in their growing up someone they love or they themselves will be touched by breast cancer and they will pull out the bracelet and remember that they were way ahead of the rest of us when it came to being aware of how fragile life really is.

So I cannot wait for this decision to come down and yup I am going to get a bunch of these bracelets and give em to everyone in my life and when my daughters go back to school I think I might wear a shirt that says "my school district needs to worry about bullies not boobies!" I just love challenging authority...if you want to challenge authority or just support the cause go to this link to get your bracelet  http://www.keep-a-breast.org/ .