LoonyAlana
Member
All I can offer is support, and hope that my 5 year old son doesn't follow in your son's footsteps. Sadly, already there were more correlations than I would have liked. We are facing hospitalization for our son as well, so I totally understand your reluctance to sign him away. At least in regard to my own child, even at just 5, I am quickly understanding that despite my love, my desire to help, my attempts in trying anything and everything I can afford to... it's not working. What I am doing is not working, and is not fixing him. I'm sure guilt, pride, and any number of things and emotions contributed to me not wanting to accept that my home might not be the place he needs it to be in order to get what he needs to become a functioning adult. So, long story short (too late), I agree with what many have said- It's NOT your fault. It's NOT. As no matter how much you love him, how much you've tried, he might need to be somewhere else. One thing I would ask yourself, if this was someone else telling you about their child, or even in regard to your younger son- what is that straw that breaks the camel's back? Could that 'straw' already have happened and you are fighting the next step that's been lined up? Hopefully I'm making sense here... but basically, I know you feel like you'd be abandoning him, and putting him in a worse situation, but what about your younger son as well? How much does he have to go through before it's 'too much' and you have two troubled children on your hands? (Maybe he'd never had that issue, I'm just trying to give you different ways of thinking about it.)
But, take everything I say with a grain of salt. Though I have a 14 year old as well, he's child's play compared to your stories. I'm not an expert, and I'm only trying to support you by giving you different ways of looking at the situation, and trying to evaluate it from the perspective of your other child's needs. I hope I'm not coming off in a negative way, that's not my intention at all.
But, take everything I say with a grain of salt. Though I have a 14 year old as well, he's child's play compared to your stories. I'm not an expert, and I'm only trying to support you by giving you different ways of looking at the situation, and trying to evaluate it from the perspective of your other child's needs. I hope I'm not coming off in a negative way, that's not my intention at all.