A Desperate Housewives Reality Slap in the Face

I am a Sunday night TV lineup junkie. Two of those shows being about wives. Army Wives and Desperate Housewives. If you have followed any of Desperate Housewives this season, you know that there is a serial murderer haunting the housewives on Wisteria Lane. The last few episodes have revealed who and why this monster evolved. I have to admit the writers of the show have done a fantastic job of pulling the audience in and giving the murderer a great sympathy vote, too bad they won't be on the jury stand when he is convicted, but it seems victims like that usually get the insane penalty anyway unless they are killed first.

The other day, my son came home from school telling me about a child who brought his pocket knife to school. The child, a third grader, received a two day suspension from school.  The same child shows up on my doorstep at least once a week at seven o'clock wanting to play outside. I have to turn him away because my children have already had their baths and will be going to bed within an hour.

A few weeks ago, my friend called me very upset. A friend of her Jr. High daughter was threatening to run away from home. Never having met the boy's mother, she put in a phone call to her pastor, talked with her husband, and finally got a hold of me. We prayed. The boy since has threatened suicide at school and the daughter upon the insistence of my friend and myself turned him into the school counselors.

Another dear friend of mine's daughter was in Vacation Bible School last summer. The boy purposely hit her with a water gun damaging five of her teeth, breaking two of them. This daughter has had a long road of recovery, both mentally and physically.

I am a Housewife, much like Gabrielle, Susan, Lynette, Bree and Mary Alice that recognize that a child is missing out on something at home. Whether it be love, a firm hand, attention etc. It is sad that in our society that our hands are tied and that even a call to the authorities results in even more tragic events or no help at all. No, it is not our role to be their mother, but it is our role to show them how a strong family unit is supposed to be, it may be their only example. We can only hope and pray that a television drama like Desperate Housewives doesn't become reality in these children's lives. Who knows, maybe one day they will even come back and thank us for being such a great example.

We all dislike the idea of doing something, but HATE not doing something and knowing we should have even more. If anyone suspects that a child is being abused, neglected or at-risk please call the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-CHILD.

♥Mrs. Hart♥