WHY?

My heart is heavy this morning.

My kid is friends with a kid a couple houses up from us. She has a very unfortunate life. Her mom has been married several times. She has 4 children from 3 dads. Her current husband mistreats the oldest one who happens to be friends with my kid. There's a current custody battle between her mother who she lives with and her father who wants to get her away from that horrible man her mother is married to. Her father is no gem either but at least he doesn't mistreat her.

I have encouraged the kid to tell an adult what happens at home. I would call the abuse hotline except I've never actually seen marks. She doesn't tell me anything that happens either. She just tells my kid. Hubby Guy and I have told her she is welcome to be at our house whenever and she can come there if she needs a safe place or needs to escape.

This morning it's 19° outside. On my way out of the neighborhood (20 minutes after the middle school started) I passed her walking to school. The middle school isn't that far but it's too far for a frigid morning. I know for certain at least one adult was at her house. I picked her up and drove her to school. The look on her face broke my heart. I could tell she didn't want to talk about it but that something had definitely happened.

She is a kid who if I could I would take in and raise myself. It's so sad that her future is basically set because of her circumstances. She's on course to end up just like her mother. It's hard to watch. The laws aren't on the side of kids like her. There isn't enough evidence to get her removed from the home but she needs to be. It took 2 years of documented evidence to get my kids removed from their prior circumstance. That is insane. I get that the laws are written so that it gives parents the benefit of the doubt, but how much is too much?