This is what we need to remember when dealing with people: they all have their different “normals” and how they grew up surviving… We have to look at it with different eyes if we are to see the true potential behind and within each and every being. Without necessarily saying the words, this is a good example of “Trauma-informed” parenting.
The above description fit me perfectly.
Yes, me… perfectly.
Marie came to live with us at the age of 6. She had been picked up off the street at 4 in the morning, barefoot, in her underwear, looking for food. We took her in as an emergency foster placement because I knew American Sign Language and Marie was deaf. She looked like a wild animal…disheveled, matted hair, flaming eyes of distrust, so filthy everywhere that even an hour in the tub did not wash off all the grime. Her teeth were dingy yellow, and her body was emaciated. Being the “good” middle class mother that I was, I cleaned her as best I could and then I took her to buy some clothes.
In the store, she immediately disappeared. I impulsively called her name, (as though she could hear me.) When I finally found her, she was in the candy aisle, shoving candy bars into…
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both sides of the wall 