When a kids bedroom isn't a room...

What with all the pre-christmas craziness of buying far too many presents for our kids (I know I'm guilty of that one every year no matter what my intention is when I start my christmas shopping...), it's sobering to be confronted with the reality of less fortunate kids than ours and gives us cause to be so very grateful for all that we do have.

Below are two images from a photo essay by James Mollison - "When a kid's bedroom isn't a room", which shows a portrait of a child and the room where they rest. All of them are disturbing in their own way, and the stories he tells about each child's situation only add to the weight of his images.

Above: 14 year old Erien lives in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The baby she carries is her third pregnancy...

Above: Samantha is 9. She lives on Long Island New York. She is a black belt in karate and has already been world champion three times...

These images made me feel a combination of shock and empathy for these kids. For how bleak their possibilities are and the narrowness of their worlds. Even the "priviledged" ones seem to have been robbed of their youth in some way. Parenting is such a tough road to tread. Often we struggle to make what we hope will be the right decisions for our kids - the choices that we hope will give them the best chance down the track to achieve what they want in life. But what's best for a child is so often very subjective isn't it? Would you be happy for any of these kids to be yours?