February was the last time I posted on here. I haven't totally forgotten about my blog. I just allowed life to get in the way of leisure. Blogging is a leisure activity for me. The last year or so has been a crazy busy time for me and I have allowed myself to step away from an intense online presence to focus on the real world.
It's July now. In February I let loose with our growing troubles with my darling daughter Catherine. Six months have past since then and here is where we are:
We began counseling with Catherine in an attempt to get to the bottom of her anger. I wish I could say to right now that we have gotten there and everything is better.
It's not all better. What we can say is this: Catherine struggles to controll and express her emotions appropriately. We have seen improvements since we began the therapy process but we have miles to go.
The hardest part to all of this is trying to separate what are normal and appropriate reactions for a 9 year old and what extends beyond normal. Tantrums for two months strait? Not normal! We are happy to report that we are no longer fighting on a nightly basis. The second major challenge is shutting out the mean and awful things Catherine will say to us when she is "melting down." I have to constantly remind myself that in those moments that is not my daughter.
Catherine is and most likely always will be a hot tempered child. She will say mean things to get a reaction when she's frustrated. I will never accept that. She will always know that we cannot accept the nastiness. Standing our ground has been difficult and yet essential to our goal.
Catherine presents as a child with mood disorder (whatever that means). We will continue to work with professionals to help her learn to control the emotional roller coaster that she is on. We will stop at nothing to help her reach this goal.
I know this isn't much but this is all I'm willing to offer. Stay tuned maybe I'll give some more updates to make up for my long absence.
No comments:
Post a Comment