Wednesday, July 18, 2012

In Re Guardianship of Vaughn (Cal. Ct. App. - July 18, 2012)

Wouldn't it be cool if we could just live off the grid?  No job, no electricity, sleeping in tents in forests up in Humboldt County.  Living hand-to-mouth, smoking weed when we want/need it, just living life freely.  Isn't that awesome?

No.  Certainly not for our kids.

It's a tough case.  What do you do when the parents have made certain choices -- and are also constrained by circumstances -- that are really bad for their children, but nonetheless love them?  There's nothing that we would label classic "abuse" by the parents, but the kids are having a very rough go of it.  Moreover, there's an alternative:  the grandparents, in whose care the children thrive.

But that's not what their mother wants.  She's their parent.  She loves them.  She's not perfect, but then again, none of us are.  (Moreover, many of her imperfections are not her fault, though I think "fault" has little to do with the right choices in this area.)  What should we do with the kids?

A toughie for sure.