Before Kid came to visit, I was terrified of him. All I'd heard were horror stories of "meltdowns" and outbursts, destruction and violence. All of this coming directly from the Mom. There was never any mention of good things he did, only bad. To say that I was apprehensive about him staying with us is an understatement. I was scared to even meet the boy! I took all of my antiques and items I was afraid of getting broken to our storage unit before he got here for fear of something being destroyed.
Well, so far I've spent a total of about 3 weeks with Kid and... I haven't seen one outburst (knock on wood!!). I've seen a kid who is willing to be helpful when asked. I've seen a kid cry because he broke a glass & was afraid of being in trouble. I've seen a teenager who was nice enough to help me straighten the living room today just because I asked. I don't expect that Kid will be a perfect angel for two months. That would be crazy. Kids mess up. Kids misbehave. Kids choose not to listen, etc. That's life. But, so far, so good.
I haven't yet seen the behavioral problems that this visit is supposed to change. What does this mean? It leads me to believe that the Mom is the impetus of the problems. Remove Mom from the picture and magically there's no problems. Interesting. Perhaps the Mom has an unrealistic idea of how life with a child is supposed to be or a messed up definition of "meltdown" or "behavior problem". I don't know. What I do know is there's a normal 13 year old in my house & I haven't seen yet what Mom wants to change.
Well, so far I've spent a total of about 3 weeks with Kid and... I haven't seen one outburst (knock on wood!!). I've seen a kid who is willing to be helpful when asked. I've seen a kid cry because he broke a glass & was afraid of being in trouble. I've seen a teenager who was nice enough to help me straighten the living room today just because I asked. I don't expect that Kid will be a perfect angel for two months. That would be crazy. Kids mess up. Kids misbehave. Kids choose not to listen, etc. That's life. But, so far, so good.
I haven't yet seen the behavioral problems that this visit is supposed to change. What does this mean? It leads me to believe that the Mom is the impetus of the problems. Remove Mom from the picture and magically there's no problems. Interesting. Perhaps the Mom has an unrealistic idea of how life with a child is supposed to be or a messed up definition of "meltdown" or "behavior problem". I don't know. What I do know is there's a normal 13 year old in my house & I haven't seen yet what Mom wants to change.
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