I need a little advice here, so I thought I'd get my bloggity friends' opinions. (See how special you are!! lol)
I have a neighbor family with 3 kids, a dad and stepmom, and a grandma. Two of the 3 kids are at my house practically every day. They are good listeners and basically do what I tell them. They even help with my kids' chores. I don't actually mind them being here, but they're here all...the...time. The stepmom runs the house and the dad lets her. She even runs him. She runs the grandma. She runs the kids and isn't very nice to the two at my house (the 3rd kid is hers with the dad and thus is spoiled). When the stepmom is sick of the kids or wants to clean, she kicks the kids out of the house. She tells them to go outside and play. She doesn't care where they go, just kicks them out. Now let me tell you, it is HOT outside here. I mean like 95 degrees and humid. I'm not even kicking my kids out til the evenings! I just tolerate them playing inside all day long because of the heat. So, the two older kids come to my house to hang out...otherwise they wander the streets. They are 8 and 10 year old little girls. I could tell them that they can't come over and they wouldn't argue. They would just say "ok" and leave. If I speak to the stepmom about this (that she can't send them to my house all the time or that she can't send them outside in the heat, etc) she will smile and say nice words, but yell at them (and possibly worse) in private later. I don't want to do or say anything that would hurt the kids. And, I don't want these young girls roaming the streets alone. So, is there anything I can do?? I treat them like my own kids and they are happy here. As a matter of fact, the older one has told me that she comes here to escape her house sometimes. Anyway, if you have any words of advice, please share.
Thanks. Have a blessed Lord's day! :-)
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4 comments:
I'm in a hurry...but my first thought is to let them come...if you are truly concerned about her response to them if you say anything to her. I think about various stories/testimonies of people who have had neighbors take them in like you are and how that has impacted their life. You have chance...as hard as it may be...to be real to them. Love them like your own for now and take every teachable moment that comes along.
That's a tough situation to be in. Maybe you should make the stepmom a project of sorts and minister to her more face to face, talk to her more. Invite her over sometime. On one hand, you don't want to further alienate the kids from the rest of their family by being their refuge. They really need to be able to function well in their home, but they are young still. Mandy is right about you being able to be a good influence, just be careful not to criticize the stepmom in front of them, or agree with them if they criticize her.
I need to go, but I also wanted to say thanks for the award. I haven't gotten around to putting it up on my blog yet. I will, though. Talk to you later,
Kathy
Hang in there. I think Mandy is right and they should be starting school in 2 weeks right. You might be there only sight of Jesus.
That is a tough decision to make. I've had similar situations. First, I'd pray a lot and hope the Lord would give me a really cool idea.
I like Kathy's idea of trying to reach out to the stepmom.
Lastly, I'd have to decide whether I was taking the kids on as a ministry (which means my own kiddos are involved because they have to spend their time with them too) or not. It sounds like you are already doing this anyway.
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