“Dear Judge”- Children’s Letters to the Judge

What do you do when you are a child and your heart is breaking? You go to the biggest, strongest people you know. You go to the people you have always counted on. You go to your parents. What do you do when your parents tell you there is nothing they can do to help you? What do you do when they say they don’t get to decide where you live or which one of them you get to kiss good night? Well, these children went straight to the Judge with their hopes, questions and fears.

Dear Judge,
I sure hope you know what you are doing cause none of us do.
~ Jordan

Dear Judge,
ttell the home study estimatr that we do not realy live in the nice house she came to. we live at the crumy one. my step mothr made a del with the ladie next dor and we move there fore one day.

i want you to tell her to come to my real hous cause i hate my step mothr that is why. cause my stomich fels upset cause she tels my real mom i am not here when she cals.
my dad said she is a ok guy but she is not. he does not like her very much eathr. she play acts that she likes me but when dad is away she stops actin.

pleasee help me get to live with my mom and new sistr. thank you vere munch,
~ emile e.

Dear Judge,
This summer we went to our bio-moms house for 6 weeks of out of state visitation. It was cool during the first week or so. Mom started asking questions about our friends and school. We told her about what we thought about the dress code, curfew and separating us into different home rooms at school because they think twins need to learn independence from each other. She said we were out of control, disrespectful of authority and needed more discipline. We tried to explain that we get good grades, follow the rules even if we don’t like them and we never get in trouble.

The really bad arguments with her went on for almost two weeks. It wasn’t until Daddy called to see how things were going that mom finally calmed down. Daddy told mom that we were good girls, and get very good grades, act just like our friends and that we were normal. The next day she started to take more of her nerve pills and blame us for things we didn’t do. Mom bought us some strange bibles and we had to study them at the kitchen table from right after breakfast until lunch time every day. It didn’t go so well after that. Mom acts different from the other adults we know and doesn’t have any friends. We think that means that something is wrong.

When we I got home, we told Daddy about what had happened, how mom said that Daddy was brain washing us and that we were headed down the wrong path in life, which we are not. It is very uncomfortable being with her. The bible in this package is from mom. After you look at it please send it back. She will think I threw it away if I don’t have it the next time. Mom wants to see our bibles in our school pictures so she knows we are studying each day.

We don’t want to go back to her house anymore, but it is your court law for us to go. Can you have her come here for visitation?
~ Tracy and Lacy A.

Dear Judge,
plez com to my hows an talk to my parnts. we will all get drest nice an wrk hard to be good. i wont a hapie famble agn
~ yur frnd, Jamie L.

Dear Judge,
You are lucky to be the boss of the court. I don’t even get to be the boss of my bedroom because I have to share it with my big brother Lewis.

When he is meen to me I call him old stinke head so he can not here me.

If you can think of a way for me to be the boss of my room pleas send me a letter.

~ Sincerly,
Raymond O.
Don’t tell Lewis I sent this letter.

Dear Judge,
In a perfect world my parents wouldn’t be divorced. In a perfect world my parents could forget themselves and focus on me sometimes. In a perfect world I could share my happy thoughts with all the people I love. In a perfect world you wouldn’t have become the real parent in our family to make my parents act like adults. In a perfect world I could talk to my parents instead of writing to you.

In hopes for a perfect world,
~ Natasha N.

These letters have been edited and excerpted from the book “Dear Judge“- Children’s Letters to the Judge Compiled By Charlotte Hardwick, published by Pale Horse Publishing. “Dear Judge” is chock-full of how kids really feel about divorce, how they feel manipulated at times, and most importantly how much smarter they are about things than most divorced parents give them credit. For more information, visit www.custodywar.com.

For more articles on children and divorce, visit www.divorcemag.com/articles/Children_and_Divorce.