Not Celebrating Mother's Day...

Mothers at TLC often face greater challenges in their recovery than do the men.  And this is partly because they are – often by default – primary caretakers of their children. The fathers are for whatever reason absent, maybe off on a drug run or in jail.

Because TLC can’t accommodate children, grandparents or other family members usually are caring for the kids. And some are with child protective services - where they’ll stay until mom is deemed fit to get them back. With others, the court has moved to sever parental rights. Sometimes grandparents or other relatives step into to adopt the children.

Whatever the circumstances, mothers faced with loss of their children are under heavy pressure.  Some pressure might come from family, the court, or even be self-induced because of the hard work of changing old thinking.

In a recent group with six women, three spoke of young children who’d been taken from them by authorities. They were full of emotion and tears. One thought she might never regain custody of her three year old. They all regretted the drug use that had cost them their children.

Two women in the group, who’d been clean for some time, described how they were now re-establishing relationships with their children.  The newer women seemed to find hope in their stories.

One only needs to sit in one of these groups to understand the devastating toll drugs and alcohol can take on families.