Co-Parenting Skills: Credit Where Credit is Due

                                                                                                                    Nancy Hudgins   
I conducted a divorce mediation recently where the parties have been separated for many years but now have started the divorce process by coming to mediation. They have been co-parenting their children during the separation. We have worked through most of the issues involved and are very close to resolution. What was to be the last session turned out to be the next-to-last session.

In this session, many of the hurts and grievances that they have been carrying around for years came out. Some of it was “stuff” that a rational person might think was relatively small in the big scheme of things. It was clear, though, that it did not seem small to the parties. It was also clear that they were still hurting.

An interesting component was that each thought that he or she had sacrificed more than the other parent. They each gave voice to their sacrifices.

As I listened I realized that they were caught in the conflict trap of living in the past. Although they both want to move on and to have a different future, they felt it was necessary to re-visit the past one (hopefully) last time.

What struck me, though, as they talked, is what great parents they had been. For more than 6 years they had been co-parenting their children—and the children sounded like they were great kids with bright futures.

What’s a mediator to do? I decided to voice the obvious. They had done a really good job of co-parenting. Likely they would continue to be good at it. Parenting is not easy. Co-parenting is even harder. They were adults when they needed to be—for their children. I hoped that they would keep communicating with each other and build on their past successes. Kudos to them.

Major Problems facing the United States in the 21st Century

• Should or can Americans agree on what are American
  values, principles, and national priorities?
  
• Should America be the Global Policeman?
  
• Is increasing inequality between the rich and the
   poor a threat to America's middle-class society?
  
• Are global corporations and the global economy
   a threat to American democracy and economic
   well-being?
  
• Can America survive as a nation of immigrants or
  should America insist on

Mexican doctors remove 33-pound tumor from 2-year-old boy

Mexican doctors successfully removed a tumor from a young patient who weighed less than the tumor itself.

Two-year-old Jesus Rodriguez weighed just 26 pounds at the time of his surgery. The tumor, externally attached to his body, weighed 33 pounds.

Dr. Gustavo Hernandez says the benign tumor was the first one ever removed by Mexican doctors that weighed more than the patient. Amazingly, Rodriguez not only survived the June 14 procedure but is said to be doing well.

He was born with a lump that eventually covered the right side of his body from his armpit to his hip, according to the Associated Press.

Doctors at La Raza Medical Center in Mexico City spent 10 hours removing the tumor.

Jesus Rodriguez is seen walking after his June 14 surgery (Esteban Felix/AP)original story     http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/mexican-doctors-remove-33-pound-tumor-2-old-193106373.html

Today important thing

July 28 Events in History - July 28

2011 Astronomers identify a Trojan asteroid orbiting on the same path as the Earth around the Sun; it poses to danger to Earth because it sits in a gravitational 'sweet spot' 2011 U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte sets a new world record for the 200-meter individual medley, winning gold at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, People's Republic of China 2010 Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California, responds to a fiscal state of emergency by requiring most state employees