Happy 2017



I was just reading my last post from 2016.

What has changed? My son is now stable and for now his depression is gone and he is doing well at his school. He has discovered a love of history--finally an interest we share. And he has also discovered that he enjoys writing. Big reveal there.

Part of his teenage rebellion or his MI has always been disdain/contempt for his parents' journalism careers. Kid 1 is an excellent writer. Kid 2 has struggled. He still refuses to use any punctuation. His teachers informed us at last month's conference that he doesn't need to use punctuation on the state finals in June. In other words, it won't count against him.

As a journalist I'm appalled. As a mother, I guess I'm relieved and guilt-ridden. How the heck does a kid graduate from high school without knowing any punctuation?

Re: rebellion, or in this case discerning mental illness from obnoxious teenage behavior. Showering regularly is still an issue. We go along with an "every other day" schedule and then gradually that routine is tossed. He doesn't know why. I asked.

This is the second school he has been at where hygiene is an after thought. I have learned however that the less disturbed the child is, the cleaner that child is. I asked him once out of general curiosity, why is it that the mentally ill resist bathing? He didn't know but he did see the correlation.

So is not washing a manifestation of his mental illness or is it stubborn teen behavior? IDK. When the kids were newborns, I had this odd notion that years later they'd be able to explain the crying jag on October 22, 1997 or the decision to eat Lego blocks on December 22, 2004. Ridiculous but my ex had to point it out. I have the same unrealistic hope when it comes to Kid 2. "So why did you decide to give up painting and creating War Hammer figures in favor of "Diablo" back in April of 2017? He doesn't know now and won't have any insights in five years either. So it goes.


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