I am copying a comment from Andrew into a new post.
Looks like we need to work on his spelling.. I think he's spending too much time texting.. I can't tell you how bad I want to run spell check before I post.. But no, this is from him.. I will leave it as he wrote it.
Andrew himself said...
mom im glad u found away to let the world see how it was to raise a boy to a man and yet no matter who i am in the streets to my mom im still a baby. i hope that everybody that reads this can get something from it bc in the past 21 years of life iev put my mom through hell and back and then some and yet she stood by my side through it all and to the anonymouse person who didnt think that this was such a good idea well Andrew gives his approvle
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
And Andrew says
I'm going stop for just a second.
I got a little grief about this blog.. I'm not sure if the person thought I was exploiting my son. Or if I just didn't need to air our problems.
Completely not the premise of this blog. This blog is for other parents struggling. And also for kids that have issues. For them to read, and hear what a parents perspective is.
We don't always listen to our own parents. If there is a kid out there reading this that I can touch. That I can explain to them how their actions effect their families. And they get it, then there is one less family in turmoil.
I also want to add that I was that kid.. I could just as easily change all the references of Andrew to Kerri, and write almost the very same story..
Something else you should know.. Andrew WANTS to help other families. He knows about this blog. He knows that I intend to be completely honest in it, he knows what the blog stands for. He gets it. He approves, and he said he'd write a letter of approval.
I remember another mother reaching out to me several years ago. I was talking to her on the phone. She knew Andrew, knew of "Andrew's antics" and knew the struggles.
After an issue with her own son, I was talking to her with Andrew sitting next to me. She asked me what she could do as a mother to help her son. So I asked Andrew "what could I do as mother to help you". His reply "exactly what you've done mom, never give up on me".
That's the beauty of Andrew. It's like he can look at our family from the outside, and understand.
So look for a future post from the boy himself.
I got a little grief about this blog.. I'm not sure if the person thought I was exploiting my son. Or if I just didn't need to air our problems.
Completely not the premise of this blog. This blog is for other parents struggling. And also for kids that have issues. For them to read, and hear what a parents perspective is.
We don't always listen to our own parents. If there is a kid out there reading this that I can touch. That I can explain to them how their actions effect their families. And they get it, then there is one less family in turmoil.
I also want to add that I was that kid.. I could just as easily change all the references of Andrew to Kerri, and write almost the very same story..
Something else you should know.. Andrew WANTS to help other families. He knows about this blog. He knows that I intend to be completely honest in it, he knows what the blog stands for. He gets it. He approves, and he said he'd write a letter of approval.
I remember another mother reaching out to me several years ago. I was talking to her on the phone. She knew Andrew, knew of "Andrew's antics" and knew the struggles.
After an issue with her own son, I was talking to her with Andrew sitting next to me. She asked me what she could do as a mother to help her son. So I asked Andrew "what could I do as mother to help you". His reply "exactly what you've done mom, never give up on me".
That's the beauty of Andrew. It's like he can look at our family from the outside, and understand.
So look for a future post from the boy himself.
Baby sitters
We went through plenty. Well I guess I don't know what "too many" is.
But we went through four.
The first on was a teenager (I can't for the life of me remember her name).
It was the summer after her sophmore year. I'm not sure what the problem was since I was mentally the same age as her. But I just wasn't comfortable with someone so young watching Andrew. While I was at work, I pictured her on the phone, or watching soaps or doing her nails, while he sat in him pumpkin seat in front of the TV.
It was her summer break. Was she really going to take the summer to watch a newborn?
I kept her for about a month. Then it was time to move on.
Next was Carla. Carla was (I hope you can keep up with this) Jimmy's, sisters, ex-husbands new wife. Carla was amazing. I knew she loved Andrew.. She had her own child, and also took care of Andrew's cousin Cheri. Bonus, she didn't charge.
Here was the problem. Carla lived in Muncie Illinois. 45 minutes from us. She would come in the morning and pick Andrew up, and I would make the drive to Muncie after work to get him back. Carla watched him for several months.. I think until winter came. After that, the drive was just too much for both of us.
Then we found MaryAnn. MaryAnn had 4 kids of her own and was so patient with Andrew.
Again, I just knew she loved him.. She didn't mind keeping him a little later so I could run errands, or keep him over night when my sister got married, so I could enjoy the evening (I would say so I could have an adult beverage. But I wasn't legal yet. So surely I did not).
MaryAnn kept Andrew for almost two years.. We absolutely loved her.. And when I see her now, she still asks about him.
But, Andrew's best buddy Dalton, who was 6 months younger than Drew, was going to Marie. I thought it would be neat for Drew and Dalton to spend their days together, and I have known Marie since I was a little girl. So It was a great idea to switch sitters again. Marie had Dalton, Andrew and Derrick. Three very busy toddlers. But she was great with them. She did crafts, took them on field trips, took them to ride the city bus, and overall let them be boys while still insisting they show her respect. Andrew loved "Ree"
There were early signs that Andrew had issues (I'll get into those later). But Marie was the first one that said it out loud. I will never forget her telling me that Andrew was either going to grow up and be Hitler or the President of the United States.. It wasn't a mean comment. She explained to me that he was just so smart it was scary. And that if we could channel it, he would go on to do great things. If we couldn't channel it, he would get bored and get into trouble.
I want to say there was a 5th sitter in there somewhere.. But I'm really not sure.
But this babysitter hopping was the start of a long line of changes in Andrews life.
I'll go through his many school changes soon.
It's probably a good idea to add that even though Andrew changed caretakers/schools frequently, I always made sure he was somewhere that I knew he had someone to love him.
Keep reading.. I promise we're getting to the issues. The good, the bad and the funny.
But we went through four.
The first on was a teenager (I can't for the life of me remember her name).
It was the summer after her sophmore year. I'm not sure what the problem was since I was mentally the same age as her. But I just wasn't comfortable with someone so young watching Andrew. While I was at work, I pictured her on the phone, or watching soaps or doing her nails, while he sat in him pumpkin seat in front of the TV.
It was her summer break. Was she really going to take the summer to watch a newborn?
I kept her for about a month. Then it was time to move on.
Next was Carla. Carla was (I hope you can keep up with this) Jimmy's, sisters, ex-husbands new wife. Carla was amazing. I knew she loved Andrew.. She had her own child, and also took care of Andrew's cousin Cheri. Bonus, she didn't charge.
Here was the problem. Carla lived in Muncie Illinois. 45 minutes from us. She would come in the morning and pick Andrew up, and I would make the drive to Muncie after work to get him back. Carla watched him for several months.. I think until winter came. After that, the drive was just too much for both of us.
Then we found MaryAnn. MaryAnn had 4 kids of her own and was so patient with Andrew.
Again, I just knew she loved him.. She didn't mind keeping him a little later so I could run errands, or keep him over night when my sister got married, so I could enjoy the evening (I would say so I could have an adult beverage. But I wasn't legal yet. So surely I did not).
MaryAnn kept Andrew for almost two years.. We absolutely loved her.. And when I see her now, she still asks about him.
But, Andrew's best buddy Dalton, who was 6 months younger than Drew, was going to Marie. I thought it would be neat for Drew and Dalton to spend their days together, and I have known Marie since I was a little girl. So It was a great idea to switch sitters again. Marie had Dalton, Andrew and Derrick. Three very busy toddlers. But she was great with them. She did crafts, took them on field trips, took them to ride the city bus, and overall let them be boys while still insisting they show her respect. Andrew loved "Ree"
There were early signs that Andrew had issues (I'll get into those later). But Marie was the first one that said it out loud. I will never forget her telling me that Andrew was either going to grow up and be Hitler or the President of the United States.. It wasn't a mean comment. She explained to me that he was just so smart it was scary. And that if we could channel it, he would go on to do great things. If we couldn't channel it, he would get bored and get into trouble.
I want to say there was a 5th sitter in there somewhere.. But I'm really not sure.
But this babysitter hopping was the start of a long line of changes in Andrews life.
I'll go through his many school changes soon.
It's probably a good idea to add that even though Andrew changed caretakers/schools frequently, I always made sure he was somewhere that I knew he had someone to love him.
Keep reading.. I promise we're getting to the issues. The good, the bad and the funny.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)