Just the other day, I enrolled Girly and Boo in the same Charter School that Junior graduated from and that Second Son is attending (or is that failing?). Girly and Boo are so excited to attend such a wonderful school and have a fresh start with new kids. They are not what I'm thinking about this summer though.
Second Son. I've always known that he would MUCH RATHER be homeschooled than anything else. But I've also always known that it would NOT work. This year though, I'm not feeling that immediate "FAIL" feeling. Does this mean that I should homeschool him? I don't think so. But I also don't think we have the right schooling system set up for him either. We have tried (and failed at) so many things for him in the past, and I don't know what we can try for him next. One of the things that I am very hesitant about with homeschooling him is that he really really needs peers and friends. Good ones. The only thing we haven't tried is private schools, but we cannot afford them. Does ANYONE have any ideas???
Oh, let me give a few more details. He threatens suicide when he gets in too much trouble (which is really only grounding from electronics and friends). He has a fascination with diapers, diaper porn, and poop. and anything that puts these things together. Yes, follow your imagination to the grossest of gross and beyond. He doesn't clean up after himself very well, he stinks, and when he is forced to clean his messes, he uses my good towels and then throws them away! The whole household/family has just sunk into not wanting anyone to come over because we don't know when a stink will arise from wherever he is.
This puts me out of cleaning anything. I've really given up. Yes, it's my fault, I shouldn't give up for the rest of my family's sake. But I have. I try to keep them in a good enough position so that they can leave the house well, but I haven't done a good job lately. I have decided to work harder to change that.
Yet, the point is the whole family feels kind of chained or imprisoned by Second Son's choices. About a year ago Social Services came because Second Son complained to a teacher about how Big Daddy treated him (after a ginormous mess!). Within a few minutes of speaking to the kids and us, SS totally changed their tune and were asking how they could help US as parents of this child. They said they had so many programs that could help. But unfortunately since we were insured, NONE of their programs would help us. SS closed the case and we haven't heard anything from anyone, except we take him to his psych every week. Even with that, he's not getting any "better."
After he was caught shoplifting Adult Diapers, then his doctor put him on Celexa- which is an anti-depressant- for "impulse control." I also hope it will help slow down his libido and need/want for said Adult Diapers. We are also changing up how we do his grounding (2 days on, 3 days off- except when he's "off" grounding, he still won't get his iTouch back, nor will he be allowed inside any stores), with some other things thrown in. The doctor said this should be more advantageous and that he will learn more from the multiple groundings than from one long, constant groundation.
I put this out with just a long big, SOS! to see if anyone, anywhere, has any wisdom, experience, thoughts, advice, for me. Please???
Hi ho, 'tis I, your friendly neighborhood crazy lady. And sorry for calling you a ho, it just slipped out. ;)
Well what do you know, it's summer already and all my demons offspring are running around the house like the olden days. Except they aren't little anymore. I guess I will introduce them (with made up names because I don't know what kind of serial killers are out there reading this) so you won't be confused.
Junior: Junior is 17 and just graduated from a charter school and is looking for some kind of college to go to this fall. He has Asperger's syndrome and skipped 7th grade because he likes to know everything there is about anything. Unfortunately now his best friend is the computer and a bunch of troll things on the game, "World of Warcraft." He looks JUST like his father, but with long long long hair.
Second Son: This beautiful boy is 15 and, true to his name, is our emotional, jealous, and very needy child. He can drain a room of the happiness inside. Yet on the other hand his smile can fill the room with peace if that is how he feels at the time. His emotions are powerful, yet he is confused and wants/needs others to choose his every action and thought. And now that he's a teenager, he not only wants that, but is fighting it at the same time. This last semester of school (9th grade) he failed 3 classes. And because of circumstances that I will probably explain later, I didn't get him enrolled in summer school. Then a few weeks ago, he was caught shoplifting. He goes to his psych weekly, and is on quite a few medications that we monitor closely. (sigh)
Girly: Our only daughter is 12 years old and is a wonderful mix of both her parents. She has my artsy flair and ability to accept complete chaos and craziness, yet she has her dad's science/math brain and can learn difficult and complex things with ease. She isn't sure if she wants to be a veterinarian or a scientist or an artist when she grows up. A few weeks ago she spent some time in the hospital (after falling out of a tree) and now has added nurse/doctor to that list. Oh Girly also has ADHD, but does very well with medication and her own way of burning off her "H."
Boo: The plan was to finish out our family with another girl and be all hunky dory, but Boo had other plans. He was definitely NOT a girl. Boo is 11 and to his dismay, he's been the smallest kid in the class for his whole life. :( Add to that he's the youngest in the family (ie: smallest) and he's got a bit of a Napoleon complex. Now we've promised him time and again that Big Daddy was also a very tiny little kid, but look how HE has turned out!!! Boo is starting to think this won't happen to him because he's lived for SOOOOO LONG and he's still just a little guy. 58 pounds and eating! Boo has ADHD and I'm pushing his Dr. to diagnose him with Asperger's Syndrome this summer.
Big Daddy: My favorite person in the whole world. We started dating when I was 15 and he was 17. Or as I like to say, "before I was even born." LOL. He is a foot taller than me and a hundred pounds heavier. He does this even when I gain weight, so this is a plus for me because he always makes me feel tiny and dainty. ;) He is a loving, caring man who will do anything for his family. He is also a manly man who can work on cars, do home repairs and go hunting etc... Add onto that he is SMART and has a job that supports all of us. We have a great house in a great neighborhood, decent cars, clothes and enough to feed ourselves. He also keeps us stocked in computers and the internet, LOL, because that is his passion.
And me. I don't make donuts. But being a mom is sooo... DAILY, don't you think? Do you remember those old commercials where the guy would get up in the middle of the night, saying, "I have to make the donuts!" and drag his butt to work, then he would be all tired and go home and go to bed, then his alarm would go off and he's say "I have to make the donuts!" and do it again, until the very end when he ran into himself... and the self who was coming home said, "I already MADE the donuts!!!" This is how I see my life right now. I have a part time job at a dinner-prep kitchen. I get some dinners for half price each month, plus it gets me away from the home chaos and out of my own hair, and into adult company for a while. But it also takes me away from my children and I'm not always there to make sure everything is perfect for them.
Which is kind of the point. Which comes to my first "donut" question of the blog. Is my part time job at this point in my life a "life saving device" for me (think airplane oxygen bags- adults put theirs on first before helping children) OR, is it me running away from my duties as mom?
