Moms who kill

I am shocked at the news today of the tragedy when a mom in Oak Hills, Texas, took her own life after hanging her three children! The baby survived. I guess it is just beyond my fathoming that someone could do this - and to children! Of course, I realize there is such a thing called Post Partum Depression, and extenuating circumstances, etc. but I also believe there comes a time when that person is still compus mentus and responsible for their actions, and that that somebody should seek help. What has happened in this incidence makes my blood boil. Perhaps I am a little more sensitive to crimes against children, what with our inability to have them and all, but this woman was beyond irresponsible. Am I overreacting? Is this not one of the most selfish tragedies you've ever heard of?

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I suppose us non-mommies - and I mean specifically those of us who can't have children, not those who choose not to have children - have a slightly more "critical" eye when it comes to parent's behaviour... and if I'm really honest, we like to believe that if or when we become parents, we would never do that! Which is, of course, totally stupid! Because until we're in that same position, how could we know how we'd react?

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Post Partum Depression is not an imagined condition. It is so very real and affects many many women. Unfortunately it is a silent disease. That is to say, not many people talk about it. And so the poor women suffer in silence, crying out for help to a deaf audience.

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I wonder if that woman in Oak Hills suffered from Post Partum Depression? And I wonder, would I excuse her beastly behaviour if I knew she had it? None of us will ever know what led her to do what she did. And even if we knew, would we I still stand in judgment of her? Would I climb off of my high horse and feel for her?

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I don't know. But I am just so angry saddened by it. There are so many of us who would sell our kidneys to purchase a baby (if it were legal, of course!), and then the lives of children are stolen at the hands of their own parents. It makes me so very cross.