Thursday, August 16, 2012


Tonight I wanted to share a poem I wrote in high school.  It is strange how your children repeats your patterns.  My 16 year old daughter thinks that she wants to marry her boyfriend of 10 months and to have a baby.  I try to talk to her and tell her what she would need in order to have a baby and it is best to wait until after college.

However, because I was misjudged for my PTSD by the court system, my children live with there dad who lets them run the streets and be with boys, etc.  I have no control of what she does all I can do is hope and pray that our talks get through to her.

I remember the feelings I felt at 18 years old so I understand what she is going through. Now I know what my parents went through.  Have you had anything like this happen with your kids?


A Young Girl with Grown-up Ideas

As she looks into the mirror she sees a grown woman trapped in a young girl’s body.  She feels her only chance to be seen, as a woman is to take control of her life and make her own decisions.


She starts to stay out past curfew and date boys.  One day, she decides the only way people would accept her as a woman is to become a mother and a wife.  She was certain she found her true love.  After dating for three weeks, they decided to start their family and to become pregnant.
 

The two adolescents did not think of the consequences of their actions such as a home for themselves, money to raise a child, and how they would finish high school.  They rushed to get married before the baby arrived so the family would be complete.
 

When the baby arrived, they lived with the girl’s parents.  After the baby arrived, the realization set in and the father lost interest because he was overwhelmed he no longer wanted the responsibility of a wife and a child.  In two years, the husband left leaving the young girl alone to raise the child and finish high school.


She looks in the mirror again but this time she sees a young girl with grown up responsibilities longing to just be the age of eighteen. 

Copyright 1996 by Leslie Raddatz

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