So far these are the two things that December has brought to our family. The kids throughly enjoyed the snow, all of the sickness however, they have not. The little guy was the first one to come down with Bronchitis, and he was carted off to the doctor's office for a check up and some medication. Just after recovering from that, however, he brought home strep throat, and pink eye, curiosity of the public school system. Somehow those two infections managed to join forces and cause an ear infection as well, so the... more

It is pretty well known at this point that singer Britney Spears, and ex-husband Kevin Federline have been fighting over custody and visitation of their two boys for quite some time now. Despite her wild behavior in pubic, Britney has been fighting for custody of her two boys, after a judge ordered that the boys be removed from her care, and primary custody be given to their father.

A hearing scheduled for today, to finally get a deposition from Britney, had to be rescheduled, as Ms. Spears apparently called in sick. Some are doubting... more

The race to collect back child support from deadbeat parents who refuse to pay has been going on all year long, but it seems that once Texas announced it's astounding success in their collection of past due child support, other states are stepping up their game in an attempt to 'keep up with the Jones'.' Summit County, located in Colorado, has found a way to turn the tables and get the deadbeat parents to come to them, instead of having to hunt the parents down.

This week, ten billboards will be put up throughout... more

When young children are acting up and need some time to sit and think about their behavior and actions, parents often plop them into a time out. For those who are unfamiliar with the time out process, it is placing a child in one designated spot, usually a chair set aside somewhere away from distractions, yet still near the parent so that he or she can still keep an eye on the child, and the child sits in said chair usually on a minute to year ratio; meaning that if the child is five years... more

Adopted stepchildren can often have a hard time finding their place in the family. Since they are not biologically related to everyone in the household, he or she may feel as though they do not quite fit into the family. If the parents decide to have another child after the adoption of the stepchild, this can lead to even more feelings of insecurity for the child.

Whether... more

Yesterday the first snow fall of the season began to fall, prompting schools to close a few hours early, and myself to just go ahead and pick both of the boys up from school even earlier in an attempt to keep them off of the icy roads before they got too terrible. Both young guys were quite happy to be pulled from school early, beaming from ear to ear as they shot their classmates that 'ha ha I get to go home now and you don't' smile.

I knew that my day was pretty much shot when it came to getting anything that I had planned done once the boys came home, so... more

When parents are faced with having to search for the non-custodial parent of their child, they can often become overwhelmed with the daunting task of trying to find a needle in a haystack in order to complete a stepparent adoption for their child. While searching for a birth parent is by no means an easy task, there are many tools available in this day and age to make searching a little bit easier than it used to be.

Social networking sites are a relatively new way for people to get in touch, and keep in touch with a wide variety of people, and can be... more

With so much attention in the news this year on how states are cracking down on deadbeat parents and collecting past due child support, it seemed as though it was only a matter of time before a situation like this arose in all of the frenzied chaos of 'hurry up and get the money.' While many, if not all, of our Nation's states agree that non-custodial parents should pay their court ordered child support, more and more are now stepping up and agreeing that perhaps how that child support... more

Last week I wrote about a town in Texas that has already collected 4 million dollars in delinquent child support, well my friends Texas certainly has not stopped there! Going with the notion that everything truly is bigger in Texas, another county, McLennan, has collected a staggering and record breaking 24.8 million dollars in back child support, bringing the state of Texas to a record amount of...are you ready for this...2.3 billion dollars. That is not a typo folks,... more

Hennepin County, in Minnesota is facing a budget crisis, a projected 1.4 million dollar deficit for the fiscal year, which ends in June. In an effort to make up for that loss, certain services will be cut, as well as a hiring freeze which starts immediately. The hiring freeze will result in staffing shortages, bringing on its own set of issues as the county desperately tries to whip its budget into shape.

The courts will be understaffed, which means that... more