Saturday, July 12, 2003
Kyles father back again for today's post. I'm at work, so this post may come in sections as I have time...
Oh Happy Day...!
Kyle started his job today, and was in pretty good spirits. I really hope he enjoys it, and gets some satisfaction out of it. But it's a huge step, and such a great boost to his confidence. I really am proud of him. It's funny, 2 years ago I would have just EXPECTED him to have career related job after graduating from high school. Not even thinking about it, it's what I would have expected. But now, it's not like my expectations are lowering, I'm just understanding him better, and the struggles he faces every day. Knowing this, I know what a huge step this was, and I am thrilled for him.
Let me share some of my thoughts and experiences about Kyle. First, him and I butt heads constantly. He is the only one of my 5 children I have ever spanked or struck, and that's because he was always blatantly defying me. There finally came a time when he stood up to me, asked me what I was going to do about it, and we had a knock down, drag out. It was at that time I realized this could never happen again, one of us could be seriously hurt. So, in the interest of avoiding conflict, I started just leaving him to himself. In hindsight, this wasn't good. It gave him more time, and in his depressed moods, which he spends lots of time in, he ended up by himself without interruption or intervention from me. But I knew if I asked him to do something, and he said "No, I won't do that", I couldn't let it go and walk away.
Edited at 10:30 PM
Well, potentially bad news. He just lied to us and said he was going out with one of his "good" friends, but we caught him in the lie. He stormed out, slamming the door. This means he's going out with some of his "bad" friends. He'll likely be impaired tonight when he gets home. There's been nights lately where he's been literally falling down drunk, or so stoned he can hardly talk.
It never ends. The really bad with the good...
Maybe my wife will be back tomorrow with a post. Anyone reading this, make sure and drop her a line with some words of encouragement.
Oh Happy Day...!
Kyle started his job today, and was in pretty good spirits. I really hope he enjoys it, and gets some satisfaction out of it. But it's a huge step, and such a great boost to his confidence. I really am proud of him. It's funny, 2 years ago I would have just EXPECTED him to have career related job after graduating from high school. Not even thinking about it, it's what I would have expected. But now, it's not like my expectations are lowering, I'm just understanding him better, and the struggles he faces every day. Knowing this, I know what a huge step this was, and I am thrilled for him.
Let me share some of my thoughts and experiences about Kyle. First, him and I butt heads constantly. He is the only one of my 5 children I have ever spanked or struck, and that's because he was always blatantly defying me. There finally came a time when he stood up to me, asked me what I was going to do about it, and we had a knock down, drag out. It was at that time I realized this could never happen again, one of us could be seriously hurt. So, in the interest of avoiding conflict, I started just leaving him to himself. In hindsight, this wasn't good. It gave him more time, and in his depressed moods, which he spends lots of time in, he ended up by himself without interruption or intervention from me. But I knew if I asked him to do something, and he said "No, I won't do that", I couldn't let it go and walk away.
Edited at 10:30 PM
Well, potentially bad news. He just lied to us and said he was going out with one of his "good" friends, but we caught him in the lie. He stormed out, slamming the door. This means he's going out with some of his "bad" friends. He'll likely be impaired tonight when he gets home. There's been nights lately where he's been literally falling down drunk, or so stoned he can hardly talk.
It never ends. The really bad with the good...
Maybe my wife will be back tomorrow with a post. Anyone reading this, make sure and drop her a line with some words of encouragement.
