I saw something on TV yesterday that kept me up a good portion of the rest of the night. After I put my little monster men to bed, I was flipping through, trying to get some sense of the news of the day when I stumbled across Nancy Grace. I haven't really liked watching her since the whole Terri Schiavo case, even if she is a Georgia Gal, but I was blindsided by the news of a man who tried to microwave his 2 month-old baby. He had refrigerated her and hit her as well. A 2 month-old baby people! There was the accompanying drama such as his wife saying the devil made him do it and him saying the baby was actually walking toward a hot coffee pot and accidentally spilled it on herself...lots of extra details to make the whole story even more horrid. I couldn't help but start to cry. The idea of a grown up being so vicious to such a little precious baby just destroyed me.
Then amazingly, right after the commercial break she comes back with another tale of utter vileness where a caretaker bound up a 2 year-old with duct tape and the little boy later died. They think it was from suffocation. She said he hadn't wanted to go down for his nap! It was like getting sucker punched twice and I immediately snuck out of bed to look down at the faces of my own little boys. Of course MJ was sprawled all over the place like he usually is - sleeping on his back now that it doesn't give me chills to see him do it (when he was an infant he would only sleep on his stomach and the whole SIDS thing made me check on him every hour or so...that is a lot of getting up in the middle of the night). Walker was of course on his stomach (carrying the torch for his brother no doubt) smiling as he dreamed about milk bottles and our cat. They were so peaceful and perfect in the glow of the nightlights, their faces were serene and sublime, each falling asleep in the safety and comfort that comes with knowing you are truly loved and cherished by your parents. My little boys are extremely lucky (is blessed the right word) they have tons of people who would do anything for them. I am extremely lucky (again, blessed fits here too) I have these two little angels in my life. I would do anything to protect them and would choose any pain if I could save either one from something that would hurt them.
I don't really have a point in this entry, just had to write down my thoughts and travel through my feelings I guess. Children are precious and should be loved and cherished. I have a couple of friends right now who are trying to start their own families. One is adopting, another seeking a doctor's help, and still another newly pregnant after several miscarriages. I see their struggles and applaud their courage and hope. Any one of them would jump at the chance to tend and hold that precious 2 month-old or that toddler that was treated so horribly - both by people that were supposed to protect and love them. I hope and pray that little girl whose father was so cruel to her gets well and goes on to a loving family who will treat her the way little girls are supposed to be treated. I hope her mother and father never get to see her again and are subjected to the most our legal system has to offer. I hope I remember to thank God every day for my own 2 butterbeans and thank him extra special hard when they are being terrors and all I want is to be young and single again.
I can hear MJ right now, singing his "ABCDEFG's" as he calls them. I used to think I treasured my purses and china a lot, but that was before I met them. I hope for a lot of things for them I guess...and the one I hope most right now is that they always sleep so peacefully, knowing they are truly loved and adored and most of all, safe.