Family Forum / Parenting / Step Parents / July 2006

Two more days until we fly him to Wisconsin.  I stopped by TF's house
to get the money I'd given to OS for a new photo ID the other day,
knowing he'd not gotten the ID and my gas tank was red-lining.  Chewy's
pay-day is tomorrow, so we can go for the ID then.

He'd not had a cigarette all day and AFAIK it's been several days since
he's had any of the other stuff he'd gotten into over the past 3
months, so he was jonesing badly.  When I first walked in, he seemed
OK, but I opened my mouth to joke with him a bit about the volume of
his music.  Wrong move.  If I'd known he wasn't doing well, I'd have
kept my mouth shut.

Suddenly, we were back to *everything* under the sun being my fault -
the predicament he's in now, all the bad decisions he's made, us living
on a farm, having household rules (I'll take the responsibility for
htat one!), etc.

I'm just an awful, awful, evil witch.  See me cackle.  OI!

Two more days.

He really needs to be in rehab, but he's 18yo.  I don't think we can
force him into that.  He's not hit bottom hard enough to realize just
how badly he's doing.

It's not just the stuff he's been doing in the past 3 months, either.
He did this when Chewy and I decided to eliminate white breads and
pastas from our household diet.  He went through horrid withdrawals on
that one.  He really needs medical help, but he doesn't want it.
<sigh>

Even before he turned 18, there wasn't really anything we could have
done, short of having him put in a residential facility, that could
have helped, simply because he doesn't see the need for it... yet.

Not much we can do but let him know we're here when he's ready, to pray
for him, and to ask others to pray for him.

Kitten