I’m moved by the image of you with pen and paper trying to wrestle this out. These are all difficult questions the parents with facebookable lives don’t have to ask themselves. So, to heck with them.
We get it though. Personally, I’ve filled many pages with rallying principles and wisdoms, many from here, so I can get to the right place and make the right decisions. I’ve also written down his logic salad over the years to see if I can separate the sincere from the manipulative, and promote only the sincere.
Searching like this can be soothing for me. It’s a way to spend Mom energy without outwardly trying to fix.
But we both know, ultimately, that sobriety doesn’t depend on us setting up the exact obstacle course that will lead to it.
Even normies this age pick colleges based on whether there is a Starbucks or Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on campus.
It’s just unthinkable that logic and consequences don’t inevitably lead to them making the right decisions, when the stakes include not just their future earning potential but their health, safety and freedom, and their loved ones’ well being.
That last bit is the only one we can safeguard with our own choices.
