Obviously we don't know the entire story, but I do have experience with adopting a child who has behavioral problems. He put our family through absolute hell for about two years. We were at our wits' end. At night, he would sneak out of his room, go downstair and hide money, hoard food in his room, all kinds of crazy things (he was only 3!). Once, he caught a doll on fire on our back porch.
We didn't know what to do. He was getting counseling, but in the meantime, what? Wait till he burned the house down and killed us all? Wait until he took a knife to his room and hurt himself (We DID find kitchen knives in his room occasionally)? We made the agonizing decision to lock him in his room at night. Believe me, it wasn't something we did joyfully. We knew we were taking a big risk, and we prayed every night for his safety.
Happy ending, though. We only had to do that for a short time. The counseling and endless hours of me working with him paid off. He still has a little bit of emotional baggage, but most of the things he does now are just bone-headed 11-year-old stuff.
I'm not siding with these parents, but I'm not wholesale condemning them either until I know the entire story.
I'm not siding with these parents, but I'm not wholesale condemning them either until I know the entire story - thank you and God bless you. So often we read these original stories and are horrified; it is nice to have a perspective of someone dealing with the same issues (although it sounds as if you handled it a bit better) - but 11 kids? wow
My son was 9 months old when he first climbed out of his baby bed. I made an appointment with the pediatrician for that day, and we talked about my options: Hub and I could sleep in shifts, or we could put a lid on the crib. I was a first-time mom, and the idea of a lid horrified me until I thought--what happens when we fail to keep a close watch and he gets out of bed?
At 9 months, he was still an infant--very bright, bright enough to get into serious trouble...
We painted some beautiful pictures on the lid of the crib, and each night, tied it shut out of his reach. We did this for about a year. Everyone survived, and he has no phobias--full grown self-supporting married father of two, today...
But the things you go through...
The news program I'm watching in Atlanta just said the couple said a psychologis(or psychiatrist) told them to do it.
We should wait, for the rest of the story before forming an opinion on this.