*waves*
Thanks!
Well, husband took difficult child to his appointment yesterday morning, and I got to 'tag along' on speakerphone during the meeting. I heard more from difficult child about the lengths he tried to go to in order to keep the family pets safe from the smoke in the house. While I was wincing on my end of the phone, it made my heart a little lighter to hear that there was SOMETHING he cared about other than himself (that's not grouching about him so much as teenagers in general *wry grin*) and how much trouble he was going to be in once we got home.
During the meeting, the counselor & husband brought up a very good question to difficult child. Through all of this (namely the fire, but in general, resulting from his actions in the last 8 months), what has been lost?
Loooooong pause from difficult child.
Finally, he mumbled something about my steam cleaner & husband's saw. He mumbled that we didn't trust him anymore. husband pointed out (I think. It was hard to hear) we had no reason to trust him. Then came another long pause from difficult child.
husband asked him what about the enjoyment of his sisters' childhood? We can't have children over to the house anymore due to his behaviors. They're rarely invited out.
How about his own childhood? He has no real friends here. He doesn't get phone calls, rarely calls anyone else. His grounding is now effective to staying in his room with no tv or video games, and no tv downstairs with the family unless specifically mandated by the parents.
A pause of a few seconds, then difficult child went back to mumbling about losing our garage fridge & his dad's rock posters. Not commenting on what husband said.
*sighs* The counselor asked difficult child to leave for a minute so he could talk with-husband & me. There's some discussing to do between us coming up, but all in all, Residential Treatment Center (RTC) was recommended. I've done a little more homework, and think I may have found a local psychiatric hospital with a home setting for kids that may fit us best. husband is still pretty set against Residential Treatment Center (RTC), but with the counselor's suggesting it & me helping ease his mind that we're not sending difficult child into "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", I'm really hoping it'll work out for all of us.
Right now, I'm just holding on tightly, trying to get all the info I can to help the situation. Praying a LOT. *wry grin*
Thanks for the good thoughts/prayers/wishes!
Any suggestions or tips for dealing with Residential Treatment Center (RTC) stuff? It's all new to me.
husband said clearly, "What about