We had a meeting at the school yesterday. Hubby and I were to both attend, but he was sick yesterday so I was flying solo with #1 for the meeting. There was also supposed to be the school Psychologist and Vice Principal in attendance, but they were no shows.
The meeting started out somewhat smooth, but swiftly took a nose dive when #1 copped an attitude and informed everyone that he wanted nothing to do with school other than to drop out and become an actor.
If you don’t have kids, you may or may not realize that between the ages of 13 and 20 kids know everything, and adults know NOTHING. Just ask any person in this age bracket and they will assure you of the truthfulness of this statement.
Reasoning with #1 was futile, and his attitude was getting worse and the rude factor was escalating at an alarming rate. After a threat was made on his part to run away if anyone tried to make him do anything regarding school, I asked that we re-schedule the meeting.
We went home, and #1 was sent to his room to clean out anything and everything that could be considered to be used for an entertainment activity. After his room was essentially emptied out, it was lecture time. Our lectures were punctured with wild gestures and raised voiced anytime we noticed any semblance of his eyes glazing over. He was then sent to sit in his room and do nothing for the next 5 hours until it was time to go to sleep. He was allowed out for dinner and a bathroom break.
Because he made the threat of running away, I camped out all night outside his door with a couple good books. While I was fairly sure his threat of running away was an empty one, for my own peace of mind I needed to be sure he wasn’t going to either try to sneak out during the night, or find something sharp and take out his anger on Hubby and/or myself.
I probably would not have had that fear if #1 had not come after me before with a knife with the intent of doing extreme harm. It has been a few years since that happened though, and the memory of it is something I’m not likely to forget ever.
About 45 minutes before Hubby usually gets up for the day, I decided to call it a night and camped out for what was left of the night on the couch. Shortly after Hubby woke up, I crawled into bed for a couple hours.
Today, things seem to be back to as close to normal as they get. #1 is cheerful, helpful and back to a happy member of the family. He’s still grounded, but he is not in his attitude mode today.
Such is the life around someone who is bipolar.
He helped out in the yard, and we got all but one of the plants I’ve received so far into the ground. The remaining plant will go in later today after Hubby and I have re-assessed the size it will grow to, and the areas I’m looking to put it.
I hope this lasts a while. I’m exhausted after yesterday.