I am a mom. At Mount Camel Youth Ranch,these boys become part of my family! It's the only way to help them to change. They come to us angry,scared and usually coming down off drugs. They blame you for taking them into your program. So right away you are the enemy!! One of the questions I'm asked is "why would you want these boys on your ranch?" I have six children, and they were alot like the boys we bring into the program. I know the guilt feelings, the what did we do wrong questions. That feeling of fear and hopelessness about your son, that horrible feeling of failure when the police call or come to your door. That's why we are here to help. Our society is in such a fast pace, and these boys know only one gear, floored. So placed in the middle of nowhere, it gives them the chance to slow down, come off of drugs and see the world as it really is. The ranch setting gives them alot of new ways of looking at life. One of the ranch happenings, the boys really love is seeing the new baby calves born. They learn alot of vet skills, helping deliver the calves when their having trouble, they run the cow into the chute and pull the calf. What joy they feel saving a new baby. Of course they are trained by competent staff before they are allowed to do any of this. Safety first!! The reason I brought this up is because Ned and I were talking about his going home and he said this was one of the things he would miss, feeding the new baby calf, drying him off, and taking him back to his mom. He said He would be back to visit and maybe stay for calving season. He also said he would really miss the mountain cow camp, and the cattle drives home to the ranch. We are working on out processing Ned for his leaving us to go HOME. Ned was our top hand, after he was trained, in running tractors, with front end loaders, feed wagons, balers etc. I told him tonight that he has the great gift of being and doing whatever he puts his mind to. His family will be very proud of their son who is a fine young man.

Ten Troubled Teenager Warning Signs
1. Your teen refuses to abide by anything you say or request, and his or her resulting behaviors put your child or your family in danger or high risk leading to constant fear or stress in the home.
2. Your teen is displaying behavior that is a marked change from what has been normal (sleeping little or too long, forgetfulness, lack of motivation, aggression, depression, anxiety, grades slipping, hating what they once loved or loving what they once hated, always wanting to be with friends or away from home, or avoiding friends altogether and spending too much time alone).
3. Your teen has become increasingly disrespectful, dishonest, disobedient and openly displays rebellion, no longer veiling his or her feelings or caring about the consequences.
4. There is a blatant ignorance or profound rebellion toward the boundaries, Belief System or rules of the home. This can be shown in passive aggressiveness or open defiance that is unusually excessive for your child.
5. There are outright or veiled threats of suicide, or self-mutilation/cutting, excessive risk-taking, dangerous drug use or blatant sexual promiscuity--seemingly a loss of a conscience or moral compass.
6. Treatment by your teen of people, pets, or belongings is threatening or out of control.
7. Your teen thinks he or she is the center of your family and shows blatant disregard for the feelings of other family members, their time or their possessions.
8. Months of counseling is providing little or no positive progress for your teen.
9. Your teen refuses to do anything with the family and displays a growing hatred for the family.
10.

You cannot keep your teen away from peers who are obviously leading a lifestyle counter to your beliefs and your child is buying into their destructive behavior and attitudes. If your teenager is showing 5 or more of these behavioral warning signs please contact Mount Carmel Youth Ranch fo help with your son. 307 645 3322

Mean Moms:


Someday when my children are old enough to
understand the logic that motivates a parent,
I will tell them, as my Mean Mom told me:

I loved you enough to ask where you were going,
with whom, and what time you would be home.

I loved you enough to be silent and let you
discover that your new best friend was a creep.

I loved you enough to stand over you for
two hours while you cleaned your room,
a job that should have taken 15 minutes.

I loved you enough to let you see anger,
disappointment, and tears in my eyes. Children
must learn that their parents aren't perfect..

I loved you enough to let you assume the
responsibility for your actions even when the
penalties were so harsh they almost broke my heart.

But most of all, I loved you enough to say
NO when I knew you would hate me for it.

Those were the most difficult battles of all.
I'm glad I won them, because in the end you won, too.
And someday when your children are old enough to
understand the logic that motivates parents, you will tell them.

Was your Mom mean?

I know mine was.
We had the meanest mother in the whole world!
While other kids ate candy for breakfast,
we had to have cereal, eggs, and toast.

When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch,
we had to eat sandwiches.

And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was
different from what other kids had, too.

Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times.
You'd think we were convicts in a prison.

She had to know who our friends were
and what we were doing with them.
She insisted that if we said we
would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less.

We were ashamed to admit it,
but she had the nerve to break
the Child Labor Laws by making us work.

We had to wash the dishes, make the beds,
learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry,
empty the trash and all sorts of cruel jobs.
I think she would lie awake at night
thinking of more things for us to do.

She always insisted on us telling the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
By the time we were teenagers,
she could read our minds
and had eyes in the back of her head.
Then, life was really tough!

Mother wouldn't let our friends just honk
the horn when they drove up
They had to come up to the door
so she could meet them.



While everyone else could date
when they were 12 or 13,
we had to wait until we were 16.

Because of our mother we missed out
on lots of things other kids experienced.

None of us have ever
been caught shoplifting, vandalizing other's
property or ever arrested for any crime.
It was all her fault.

Now that we have left home, we are all educated, honest adults.
We are doing our best to be mean parents just like Mom was.

I think that is what's wrong with the world today.
It just doesn't have enough mean moms!