*sniff* (I just have to brag!)

[klmno]

I just received a letter from difficult child. He says things are going very well now with the medication decrease and staff keeping dosages straight. He says he has been one of several students to get "student of the week" for a few weeks now. The staff let him move his bunk and he doesn't have a bunk mate (the last one was intentionally annoying him) as long as he keeps the whole area clean, so he says he is cleaning it every day as best as he can. He started keeping a journal so maybe he won't explode on people (I assume this was a suggestion from his therapist). He wrote a short, positive letter to my mom that I will forward to her.

Then, he said for school he had to write a paper on the person he appreciated the most..and he chose little, ole' me! *sniff* I really didn't expect to have any proud or touching moments while he was in Department of Juvenile Justice but my son has never been one to be predictable.

 

[DDD]

I'm so glad that you had an "up" moment. Treasure it and silently wish for more. DDD

 

[KTMom91]

How cool is that? I'm so happy for you!

 

[gcvmom]

 

[klmno]

Thanks! Like all of us moms, I know I can't expect that attitude and level of achievement all the time and as a mom of a difficult child, I can't expect it most of the time. But as DDD implied, I'll sure enjoy whatever moment I can get!

The boy that's in there with him for stabbing his grandmother to death told difficult child that he is very lucky and should be very glad and thankful that he did not carry thru with his threat on me. difficult child told me this at the last visitation. It makes me think that maybe difficult child is getting to a point where he can see the seriousness of what he did. I don't know. I hope someday he can be thankful that he spent a year locked up for a threat instead of many, many years for killing his mom and no longer having his mom.

Still, I have a concern because even though I realize he has to remain confident that he can succesfully do his time, and they do use some positive reinforcements to encourage the boys to hang in there, I don't want difficult child accepting this life as one that isn't so bad and re-offending because he doesn't have the same fear of it anymore. There are a lot worse facilities, even for juveniles, that he could be in so I hope he's hearing from other boys in there that it gets worse if they re-offend and have to go back. I hope he doesn't see that as a challenge to prove his manhood.

 

[DammitJanet]

K...I dont think you need to worry about that just yet. Being locked up isnt fun no matter where you are.

 

[Andy]

Oh for COOOOOOOLLLLL!!! You so needed to hear/see that special heart of your son's in action! I am glad it is starting to poke its way out.

Way To Go Student of the Week and Way To Go Mom of the Year!

 

[ML]

I'm so happy to hear things are going this well. I maintain that much good will come out of this chapter in his (and your life). Try to hang on these positive moments. Love, ML

 

[klmno]

You ladies make me feel so good! I just came back from visitation and difficult child says he is completely off tegretol now. We all expected that one to go well because it was only supposed to have been PRN anyway but they had been giving it daily. difficult child says he feels more alert and it's easier for him to get up in the mornings and do things right away instead of being groggy all day long. Even if he can't come off everything, I'll be happy to know they get the medications to the minimum he really requires.

He has lost a little weight and looks like he's in great shape physically. I attribute that to swimming and he says he's considering re-joining a swim team when he gets out. He tried it one season a few years ago and even though he did very well, he never wanted to do it again. I would love to see him get back into it since he couldn't care less about any other sport or group stuff. He used to, but he gave them up one by one.

I know some of the MS's contribute to weight issues, cognitive dulling/memory issues, and acne, all of which difficult child has problems with. Does anyone know of lithium/lithobid has any of these as a side effect? Depakote definitely did but he's been off that since last Fall.

 

[Wiped Out]

K,
This post made me smile so much!! I'm so glad things are looking up. Hugs.