Help Me Brainstorm for Summer Solutions...

DaisyFace

Love me...Love me not
For years now, I have planned my entire existence around difficult child....it could not be helped.

Now - difficult child will be turning 16 next month.

Summer starts in two months.

I am NOT, NOT NOT spending another summer tied to my house because difficult child cannot function without supervision.

Now, she absolutely, positively cannot be left home alone. No way. No how.

So - what the heck can I do with her so I can get some time to myself?

She is already hinting that there is no way she will be able to get a job. There are no summer camps around here for kids her age (unless she got hired as a counselor).

Is it OK for me to just drop her off at the mall or at the library while I go and do stuff without her? It feels pretty irresponsible to just drop her off somewhere...plus she's likely to get up to no good.

She already comes up with cash and clothes and jewelry and snacks....and that's without having a job and without me giving her any money! So stealing and scamming? Yes. Will she do that if I drop her off at the mall on Saturdays? Probably.

But - what are my responsibilites here? If I could trust her at all - this wouldn't be such a huge problem. Do I really have to keep her chained to my hip all summer long - again???

Ideas?

Thoughts?
 
M

ML

Guest
We need to live closer together and everyone take a turn supervising a group of kids close in age. I'm currently thinking about summer as well. Technically as manster is still 12 he can still do summer care/camp but it's too expensive and husband is likely to still be home. But the two of them alone unsupervised is a recipe for disaster. Getting some exercise is a top priority because getting my difficult child out of the house is one of my biggest problems. I guess it could be worse, huh?

I hope you come up with something that will give you some respite.
 

shellyd67

Active Member
Oh Gosh DF, I am sitting here wracking my brain to try and come up with something where she will be safe and not get into any trouble.

What are some of her interests ?

Maybe you could push her towards a job at something she likes to do ( costume jewelry store, ice cream shop, perfume counter ) I am going to keep thinking of something. As far as dropping her off at the mall or library, I can't recall if she has ever shoplifted from any of your older threads but that would be a huge concern for me (you don't want mall security blowing your phone up everyday) but I would give it a try and she how she does ...

You do not deserve to be stressed out the whole summer.
 

DaisyFace

Love me...Love me not
ML--

12 is such a tough age, isn't it? Too young for the adult stuff....but too old for the kiddie stuff. It's really hard to find appropriate stuff!

Shelly--

difficult child has never been arrested for shoplifting. BUT she does con people out of their stuff all the time and/or help herself to things that she wants.

And while we've been hoping to "push" her toward getting involved and setting some goals for herself - she'd much rather do nothing. Which is why I'm wondering if I can just make the house "off limits" for certain days and drop her off at the mall. (Geez that makes me sound like a terrible parent, doesn't it?)
 

JJJ

Active Member
Some of the things we used to keep Kanga occupied that last summer at home:

*volunteer counselor at Vacation Bible School
*Salvation Army Camp ($25 for the whole week!)
*YMCA Camp (they have some fee waivers for kids on Medicaid)
*lots of park district programs

Have you looked in Job Corps in your area? How about summer school -- taking something fun - art?music?computers? Do you have a water park near you? how about a season pass?

I would think you could drop her off at the library or the mall; at least until she caused a problem.
 

KTMom91

Well-Known Member
Summer school. Miss KT always went. ALWAYS. Whether the classes were academic or not is irrelevant...not having them velcroed to your butt all summer is what's important.

At 16, she may be able to take classes at a community college or adult school if the high school isn't offering anything appropriate.

Good luck.
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
I'd say just let her go to the mall.

Honestly? If she gets caught shoplifting... Maybe juvenile court would HELP?!

Sigh... Try to think of the positives... And trust me, I know the feeling.
 

worriedteacher

New Member
I'm new to conductdisorders.com, so if I ask a question I should already know the answer to, I'm sorry. I'm also not a parent, just a teacher who is very worried about some of the students at my school and on here to find anwers on how best to help them.

Does your daughter have an IEP? If so, she should be eligible for Extended School Year (ESY) services. They base the need for this on a regression formula (not really a formula, just something that is determined by the team based on previous experiences and assumptions about the break). Even if your daughter won't "regress" with her academics, will her behavior at school regress during the break? If so, then they still need to offer ESY services. I have a few kids who just need to continue the structure and routine of school to keep them on track. Otherwise, the first few months of school will be working on getting things "normal" again. I don't know about your SD, but I do ESY services from the beginning of June through the end of July, but I think I may be the only one in my SD that does that, I think the others only go through the end of June.

Sorry if I'm rehashing things that you guys have already discussed.
 

Marguerite

Active Member
Worriedteacher, welcome. We've had other teachers here too, all very welcome. That information is very useful, for other parents too.

Marg
 
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