A few days ago, the Supreme Court entertained arguments on a case that could effectively overturn Roe V Wade.  A patient of mine taught me a lesson about what this legal decision would mean. A mother was concerned about her young daughter who was repeatedly banging her head and pulling out her hair.  Trying to understand this upsetting behavior, we got to talking about her family.  Reluctantly, the mother told me about an older child, a son whom she had given up for adoption.  At the time, she knew that she would not be able to give this child the stable home he deserved and she couldn’t get an abortion.  Adoption was the solution; but the emotional cost was steep.  Her grief at the loss haunted her next pregnancy.  With the birth of a healthy baby – my patient -- instead of joy, she felt torn.  “How could I love her,” [...]

Source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-to-know-single-parent-coronavirus_l_5e962076c5b6a00694f4af7a Here's how to plan ahead if you're a single or divorced parent who's worried about how to care for your kids if you get coronavirus. - By Brittany Wong There’s one thought that races through single mom Neferteri Plessy’s head constantly lately: What would happen if I get coronavirus and I can’t take of my kids? “As a mother, I always think about the needs of my children,” the mom of two boys, ages 13 and 10, and creator of Single Moms Planet, told HuffPost. “But this pandemic has made me think even more about what they’ll need if I’m not there. Who will take care of them? Where will they live? How will their financial needs be met?” It’s a subject that makes her uneasy, but now, more than ever, Plessy knows it’s important to get personal affairs in order in case of illness or even death. The stakes seem that [...]

Given all that could go wrong during the coronavirus epidemic, it might seem crazy to think about having fun. But children need fun. They need it when they’re well, and they need it when they’re sick. They need it, especially, when things are grim. Here in Ohio, lots of children are out of school for the few weeks, at least. And school closures are going to happen everywhere as the epidemic picks up. So here you are, at home, with a 9 year old, and a 7 year old and the 4 year old twins. There’s only so much TV kids can watch before it’s just boring. And even computer games and YouTube videos have their limits. And too many hours staring at screens is bad for children. It was bad for them before coronavirus, and it’s still bad for them. So what can you do? Here are some suggestions: [...]

Yesterday, I called the parents of all the children who were scheduled to see me this morning. I offered, instead, to spend the time talking with them on the phone. Nobody was upset or offended; everyone was grateful. Here in Ohio, schools are closed for the epidemic. That means that many parents are at home with lots of children to look after—all the young ones, and all the older ones, too. The idea of bundling up all of those kids to go to a doctor’s appointment for one of them seems crazy or just plain impossible: Lots of my patients take buses to get to the clinic. Also, many of my patients are being taken care of by their grandparents. The opioid epidemic is part of the reason why. With birthparents in rehab, in jail, or still actively using, the grandparents have stepped in. Older people, like these brave and [...]