A bit of a soap box...

It is no secret that I like to watch tv, that and reading are pretty much what I like to do each night to relax. Last night I was watching a new show on Bravo called LA Shrinks. Obviously, as a counselor this show appeals to me. Last night one of the doctors was talking to a woman that was in the “adult entertainment” industry, and had lot of issues attracting the wrong kind of guy. I am sure by this point, you are wondering why I am writing this on a blog that is SUPPOSED to be about Hadley- I am getting there. As the doctor is working with the client in this particular session, it is reveled that she came from a home that had lots of problems, an alcoholic father, a withdrawn mother, and a heroine addicted sister, which ultimately ended in a divorce between her parents. The doctor came back with a statement that included the words “broken home.”

This for some reason struck a chord with me and got thinking about that phrase. It has a really bad connotation, yet is often quickly thrown on a situation in which children are raised in a home that doesn’t have both parents. I guess by that definition I was raised in such an environment. My parents divorced when I was five, yet I wouldn’t say that fact alone has had a negative impact on me at all…yet I am a product of a so called broken home- does that infer that I might be broken. This of course gets me to thinking about Hadley. Hadley has never a day in her life lived in a home in which her parents cohabitated- EVER. At the rate of things now, she will be lucky if she can ever say that she has seen her parents get along. So in theory she is from a broken home…BUT you know what??

I think our home would be a million times more broken if her father and I were still married and living under the same roof. It would not be a happy house; it would most likely be a home filled with stress, chaos, and yelling…that is not a life I would want for myself and certainly not for my child. So while it might “look better” for Hadley to have parents who were still married, or for her to go through life without being labeled as being from a broken home, I am certain that it would definitely have more severe consequences for her in the long run.

I just hate that the phrase broken home is still being used…I work really hard to provide Hadley with the best life she can possibly have. Her needs are beyond met and she is happy and well adjusted, I just hope she is never on a therapist’s couch discussing her life while the doctor gives a knowing nod, stating “Oh, you are from a broken home.” I mean look at me, I am from a broken home, turn blended home and I feel like I am doing pretty darn good. I am happy, successful in my job, and an overall responsible human being. I don’t think the dynamic of the family matters as much as the amount of love in the home.



So now that I am off my soapbox, Hadley had her second dentist appointment today (her bi-annual cleaning). She did pretty well, she cried a little bit, which she didn’t do last time- I blame this on the fact that we were there at 7:15 and that was a little early to have a hygienist she didn’t know take her from mommy. They do a report card based on the amount of plaque on her teeth. Last time she got a C+, but today she got an A, so clearly we are doing a fairly good job brushing her teeth. They said I should be flossing her teeth daily- I am not so sure about that, but just like I tell my dentist, I told him, “oh yes, we will definitely floss everyday…” When we left she got to pick a balloon, which Hadley was SUPER excited about- that girl loves balloons!!