cebii

high school ?

My fourteen year old is growing up. It is unexpected because she's fought so hard to stay eight for so long... She will now use surprisingly adult logic on occasion. I'm very proud of her, but it doesn't make her that much easier to live with. I still want her to stand up straight and keep her elbows off the table and chew with her mouth shut. In four months, she will be in high school. Can she possibly be ready by then? We've put so much pressure on her the past six months. Tantrums don't go over well in high school. The kids will remember and treat you like a pariah for the rest of your high school career. Doing better, or trying to do better isn't enough, she has to be able to control her behavior enough to not scare off all the other kids. She is a good kid with a good heart, but these survival behaviors she clings to are now self defeating. Holly is much better at dealing with her now than me. Holly says I push her too hard. It doesn't feel too hard to me. I had many depressing and difficult moments in high school because I didn't get the social cues, and I fit in like a homecoming queen next to her. I just have to let her be who she will. Her will to survive is made of kevlar. Most kids who've been through what she had before we got her have already given up. She'd gone further already than any of the professionals thought she would. I just have to be patient.

posted by cebii @ 6:10 AM