I made difficult child 1 cry ..... and they weren't happy tears

T

TeDo

Guest
difficult child 1 has been wanting a big hiking backpack for when he goes on Boy Scout campouts & hikes. He found one on the WalMart website several months ago and printed it out. On his Christmas list to family, he put WalMart gift cards to buy the backpack. Well, I really wanted to surprise him so I found the one he wanted and read the customer reviews. There was only one good one and the others included ripping seams, broken zippers, and pieces falling off. I searched all over and found one that was more expensive and had nothing but good reviews. I couldn't wait for him to open it.

When he opened it, he was so excited and put it on. After a few minutes he looked it over and motioned me to another room with tears in his eyes. He told me he wanted to save up Walmart gift cards to buy the one the printed out and .... and ..... and. I told him about the reviews and that I wanted to make sure he had a good one and I really wanted to surprise him. He was clearly upset about his "plan" being changed and he cried out of utter frustration at my "insensitivity" but he kept if VERY quiet so no one else could hear a thing. Finally I said we can talk more about this tomorrow but right now I need you to get yourself calmed down and come back out to open more gifts. In about 2 minutes he came back out like nothing had happened.

When we got home, he gave me a hug and told me he's sorry he didn't think it through first and that he really did like it. All I could do was tell him how proud I was of him for the way he handled the whole thing. He has come sooooooooo far in the last year and a half.
 
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Wiped Out

Well-Known Member
Staff member
What a super sweet post! So glad difficult child was able to pull it together and that later you even received a hug and an apology!!
 

susiestar

Roll With It
You BOTH did great! How wonderful of you to notice the reviews and find a better one, and wonderful of him to keep the frustration quiet and not upset others while he worked through it. I am glad he likes this one, and that he could tell you later.

in my opinion this was a wonderful Christmas gift to the family, this maturity from difficult child!
 

whatamess

New Member
I agree, you both handled it so well! So glad he got the time and explanation he needed to calm and appreciate your efforts.
 
T

TeDo

Guest
His continued "improvement" never ceases to amaze me. When I stop to think where we were a year (and even 2 years) ago, I am sooooo proud of him. He has made such progress. Knowing the right diagnosis (and how to deal with it appropriately from a parenting perspective) and having the right medications really is the key, at least for us.

I knew all of you could appreciate how significant an event this was. Thanks for your responses.
 
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