I decided to stop waiting for my oldest daughter to call me and I have talked to here several times in the last few months. She seems open to talking and I try to stay focused on hearing what she is doing and the challenges she is facing. I am not happy that she is living with her boyfriend, but I try to find out about him as well.
I called her on the way home last night as well, with no particular idea in mind and we had a reasonable talk. Hopefully this will help us relate in the long run. I feel I am still not all that important in her life, but the only way I can talk to her seems to be for me to call, so I will do so as I feel I should.
She did claim to have called me a few times in the past, but I can't recall any of these. Letting the past go, including some serious harm she personally caused me, appears to be a vital part if I want to have a chance of developing any long term relationship.
On the other hand, I have talked with my oldest son a few times. Though in his case he is always full of stories and grandiose ideas, so it is not as interesting. I don't really care what he talks about, I just want it to be true. Unfortunately, he seems to need to mature quite a bit before he will hit truth.
I wrestle with how much I should talk with him while he is not telling the truth. I want to build /continue a relationship, but I get tired of all the stories and lies. I could live with just about anything if it was true....
Brad
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Time for an Update
We got down to 1 at home earlier this year. A few days after my youngest son turned 17 he decided he couldn't handle following any rules at home (like helping mow regularly when the lawn needed it), so he didn't come home from work one Saturday night. On Sunday he didn't want to come home, so the birthfather bought him a Greyhound ticket to his house (in another state) and my son has been up there since.
This was the son who said he was not going to do this! I don't think he fully thought it through, but it was in the back of his mind based on some things we have learned since then.
Several things annoy me here, but a significant part is that this son was learning to work hard and was really maturing through his work at a grocery store. He hasn't had any job since he went to the birthfather's house since it is harder for a 17 year old to work in that state and the birthfather doesn't expect anything out of him.
Ironically, he generally has no trouble helping out around the house up there.
He recently decided to join the Army. He scored very well on the test, but the Army (or at least that recruiter) is choking on his homeschool diploma here. It is as valid as any private school diploma (homeschools are private schools in Texas), but they are different in the state my son is living in and the Army is free to do whatever it feels like doing. He may have to take his GED, but he has to get school board approval in that state, something that is more difficult to obtain.
This son is likely to either do really well or really poorly in the service. If he is mentally committed he should do fine, but he can really rebel if he doesn't think he has to follow some rule. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out. We have given him our written permission to join whenever he wants. (That is needed since he is still under 18.)
While it is really annoying that my son has been enabled to leave home before he should have left, it is probably good that he is out. He was getting more violent and I am very concerned that he would have done something really wrong if he had remained here.
It also remains tough to keep a positive outlook for my youngest daughter to stay at home at 17, given that everyone else bailed early due to the ease of that in Texas, but I need to focus on the positive for her.
Brad
This was the son who said he was not going to do this! I don't think he fully thought it through, but it was in the back of his mind based on some things we have learned since then.
Several things annoy me here, but a significant part is that this son was learning to work hard and was really maturing through his work at a grocery store. He hasn't had any job since he went to the birthfather's house since it is harder for a 17 year old to work in that state and the birthfather doesn't expect anything out of him.
Ironically, he generally has no trouble helping out around the house up there.
He recently decided to join the Army. He scored very well on the test, but the Army (or at least that recruiter) is choking on his homeschool diploma here. It is as valid as any private school diploma (homeschools are private schools in Texas), but they are different in the state my son is living in and the Army is free to do whatever it feels like doing. He may have to take his GED, but he has to get school board approval in that state, something that is more difficult to obtain.
This son is likely to either do really well or really poorly in the service. If he is mentally committed he should do fine, but he can really rebel if he doesn't think he has to follow some rule. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out. We have given him our written permission to join whenever he wants. (That is needed since he is still under 18.)
While it is really annoying that my son has been enabled to leave home before he should have left, it is probably good that he is out. He was getting more violent and I am very concerned that he would have done something really wrong if he had remained here.
It also remains tough to keep a positive outlook for my youngest daughter to stay at home at 17, given that everyone else bailed early due to the ease of that in Texas, but I need to focus on the positive for her.
Brad
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
