Comments for Raising Bipolar

Comment on As 12 Years Old Draws To A Close by Marybeth

Marybeth — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 23:48:46 +0000

Oh dear. So not ready for the teen years. Do you know of anyway I can keep my little guy to stay 7? glad to have found your blog

Comment on Bon Voyage by Mama Bear

Mama Bear — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:15:55 +0000

Have a great trip!! That’s really sweet about the jeep, you’ve got a good kid!

Comment on Bon Voyage by Don

Don — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:08:19 +0000

Regarding the Jeep comment – That was one of those things that was just so touching. I literally started to get teary-eyed as he told me.

Comment on As 12 Years Old Draws To A Close by Kelly O'Keefe

Kelly O'Keefe — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:51:51 +0000

Hi Meg!
Sorry to have been absent so long. I just read all your posts that I’d missed. You are so inspiring and write so well. I am aiming to get back to it but have been pulled to other things. Just wanted to say HI and congrats on being a mama to a teenager! xo-Kelly

Comment on He Made It! by Mama Bear

Mama Bear — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 19:03:29 +0000

Time to celebrate!! What great news.

Comment on Criminalizing Your Child: Does It Scare Them Straight? by Meg

Meg — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:17:58 +0000

Adrienne: I think that is such a great idea for your support group to make a pact to help each other instead of calling the police or crisis intervention teams. I’d be shocked if the minute another family came over to the house or a couple of unrelated adults came over to help, the child didn’t simmer down a bit. Rages are often much more in the child’s control than it may appear. And it’s a much more empowering solution than always having to look to outside agencies or strangers for help. We don’t have a local support group here but maybe I should look into that.

And as far as other bad behavior, obviously there are times when a child/teen is doing something heinous and that needs to be dealt with accordingly. But I think at that point expect the police to do what they need to do and take your child away. And expect the courts to take control because there is no other way. Don’t expect to use the criminal justice system to simply scare, heal or reform your child. It just won’t happen.

Comment on Criminalizing Your Child: Does It Scare Them Straight? by Adrienne

Adrienne — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 01:43:13 +0000

I agree with you 100%. The only time we would ever consider calling the police on our own minor child (of course this assumes there wasn’t a serious crime committed; I’m talking about out-of-control behavior at home) is if we absolutely couldn’t keep him or the rest of us safe.

There are families with teenagers in our IRL support group and the two who have called the police for help came to deeply regret that decision later. The kids are caught in the system and instead of more help, there are more hoops to jump through, more red-tape to manage, and in some ways, parents lose some of their authority.

This does have me thinking, though, that our support group might be able to set up a way to help each other. If a family is in an immediate crisis, what if they could call us for help? We could get the siblings to one of our houses where things are quiet. Four or 5 adults would be much more likely to successfully get a raging 16 year old to the hospital than one or two. A single mom would feel physically safer and therefore more able to be firm with her child.

Aaand I’m thinking “out loud” again. I guess I know what I’ll be talking about at support group on Saturday.

Comment on Criminalizing Your Child: Does It Scare Them Straight? by Mama Bear

Mama Bear — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 23:39:42 +0000

Wow, you bring up some very good points. Especially how the child may accept this as their new norm and how they are pushed to kids that live in the criminal realm. Also what the previous post mentioned, we often think our child would react the way we would, but that doesn’t always happen.

Comment on Criminalizing Your Child: Does It Scare Them Straight? by Jim

Jim — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:52:41 +0000

That’s a really interesting thought Meg – I think it’s easy to think that someone else (law enforcement, hospital, school) can have a sobering effect on your child, because it would have a sobering effect on us. But that seems to be one of the most difficult parts of parenting (especially kids with mental health issues) – parenting a child that is very different than yourself. You think that your child would react to things the same way you would/did, but that’s too often just not the case.

Comment on Therapy: Love Yourself, Parent Your Self by sherry

sherry — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 01:33:22 +0000

I like it too, but I can see why it might be hard for a 12 year old to grasp at first. Glad he “got it”.