Marg,
I think that your plan sounds excellent. A change of pace could possibly make a real difference for both difficult child and you.
Our difficult child's last two years in high school were just horrible for us all. I can identify strongly with what you are going through. Now that he is at the University, we have insisted on a scaled back courseload - and it has made all the difference in the world. It may take him five to six years to finish, but none of us are in a rush. He also spends part of his time working, which pulls him away from his computer obsession , which is WoW. He keeps the WoW limited to a few hours a week; but it is very important to him. Our easy child pointed out to us that it is a form of socialization for difficult child -even though it is online. Is the anime website that way for difficult child 3? Our difficult child has so few things that he enjoys, we are reluctant to take them away.
Recently our difficult child has opened up a little about those high school years. He has been receiving a full state scholarship, which is going to be cut back to 90% next year due to state budget problems. Only those students who maintained a 3.5 grade average in high school will get the full scholarship. (Interestingly the college grade point average is not as important as the high school grade average - go figure). He told us he wished that he had put forth more effort in high school - but that he was bored out of his mind. It almost sounds like a typical teen doesn't it?
I think having a strategy in mind, will help you to feel more confident about the situation. I always try to remind myself that life is not a race, it is a process that can be slowed down and enjoyed. It's taken me a long time to get to this point...
Valerie
