Kiss your kids tonight

I decided when I started this blog that I would concentrate on just my crochet work here. But in light of the recent story about the young man who escaped from his abusers in California, I feel compelled to write something here. I have been a Child Protective Services Supervisor with my local DSS since July 1998, that's 11 1/2 years. Before that I was a CPS Investigator since 1989, with a 2 1/2 year stint in Ohio as a Case Supervisor with a children's mental health agency. Especially in this time of the holidays, look around you and notice the children in your life, in the stores as you walk through, in the malls, on the sidewalks, when you drop your kids off at school, in your neighborhoods, and where ever you go. Then just take a moment, just a moment to smile at one of them. Just a kid you don't know but who looks a little down or maybe he/she needs someone to show they care, if only for just that moment. I don't know how many times I went out on a report and just because I took extra time to sit down with a child and really listen, stories unfolded that led to real life changing events for them and for me. Every time I came home late at night from making sure someone else's kids were safe, the first thing I did was walk into my children's rooms and made sure their blankets were pulled up, they were peaceful and warm and safe. I was lucky to have a husband who could do this for me when I was trying to do it for others. Sometimes all a child needs is someone to smile to show that somewhere someone cares.

My heart goes out to that young man. And, I pray every night for the ones we will never know anything about. So kiss your kids tonight and tell them you love them. That's not just words - it should be a way of life.