I did

And I apologize for calling that one lady a weasel, and tamz' considered response was amazing when I picked on her. I was better after that.

Concerned, I genuinely like, and respect Gail. Though she and I don’t necessarily see eye to eye on every topic, I value her opinion. For example, Gail does not care for step families, whereas I have defended them in the past. After some time I started to see why Gail had such strong feelings about step families. I have to admit, I now agree with Gail in most of these cases. I wish I had a neighbor like Gail. Someone who I could sit and have conversations with, and whether we agree with each other or not, we still respect each other.

I admit that I am not always gracious when it comes to some of my replies, I think that we as adults sometimes need to hear the truth without the sugar coating. In today’s world we are so worried about delivering a message in a nice way, the point we are trying to make is lost. I will apply your closing to those who think I have been too harsh. If you cant take the heat, get out of the kitchen.

SnglDad,
I don't see you or Gail as being bad people. We all have our own views. I'm sure if I knew Gail as well as you do, I'd find positive qualities in her as well. She strikes me as a well intentioned person w/ really strong opinions that sometimes I feel she can take too far. I guess I just got offended when she said that she cldn't take all the "sob stories" anymore, as I think you put it (please correct me if I'm wrong). She mentioned some posts, and although she didn't specifically mention one of mine, she did mention posts about children w/ academic difficulties. My oldest son has academic difficulties, so indirectly I felt insulted. I try to be open minded, and I wish others cld be the same. I don't know if she has any experience w/ disabled children, but as you said before in so many words, unless you have experience or some knowledge about a certain topic, you shldn't give advice, and in my opinion, certainly not judge others on topics you know nothing about. It has been really tough for me dealing w/ my son's challenges, and coming to these boards for advice has been almost like a therapy for me. In return, I also enjoy helping others w/ their situations, whatever they may be, if I feel I have some valuable advice to share. I put a lot of thought into my posts, and I don't need someone saying that they can't take it anymore. This is life. Accept it.

I didn't use that term (sob stories) I wouldn't use that term. I can't take the people who discount the distress of children so the adults can do whatever they want to. And the thing about academic difficulties -- was it the question about ADD/ADHD which I clarified that some irresponsible adults appropriate the diagnosis because they don't want to rear their children? Or was it the one about that schools are not motivated to help you find problems that they don't get funded to address? I think that must have been it, because, my 17 year-old with the gift for words--Still can't write, has trouble putting together an argument (which you have to KNOW drives me NUTS) His math skills are good, now, He didn't really learn to read until about sixth grade, and his comprehension is very erratic. He can write single paragraphs well, but combining them into a larger, themed composition is still a struggle. He doesn't have a driver's license, he doesn't have a job. Thanks so much for helping me think about all the things he doesn't have. Now that's a sob story. I've taught piano lessons to one child with Aspbergers' for no fee. I take care of a 3 year-old with autism and PDD when his mom (who just delivered a preemie 6 weeks ago) has too much on her plate. I volunteered at a very small private school and worked closely with a brain-injured boy, wheel chair bound, speech impaired, bright and funny. I'm sure most of us have similar experience, if we've lived long enough. Much as I admire stephy and singldad,wantan, tamz and many others, my energy will go to the problems I think I can help with. The real people in my immediate circle. And next seasons's baby borrowers' infant and toddler cast members.
There's plenty of wisdom here without me.

Concerned
I'm a little confused by you. On this thread you seem to say that people should stay involved with the online community in the face of discouragement, and on the other thread baby borrowers, you seem to say that some things are just too hard. That some things are just too big for a single person to address. I'm not saying I'm Mother Teresa, but I am a single voice, and in this forum there are a lot of ears, of articulate people who can read my opinion, do their own research, and decide whether to raise their voices. Somebody stopped the OJ broadcast. Because they didn't want people to exploit a tragic situation. Nicole's children lost contact with their mom for the rest of their lives. These children lost free access to their parents, and the children did not know whether it would be forever. That moment of trauma was contrived and exploited. Can you really just let that pass? I cannot. . . . I cannot.