Replies to 'Troubled Teens'

I am a 39 year old parent of 3. Our oldest is 19 and was recently married. Our youngest is 12 and loves school. Our son is 15, and has been diagnosed with O.D.D., and has been in 4 inpatient facilities, and also has gone thru outpatient tx. He is very defiant when it comes to any kind of authority, regardless of who you are. He has ran away from home 2 times in 2004, and also walked off school campus when he was suppose to be there for after school detention. We had a fins petition filed against us because he had missed so many days of school due to suspension. He spent Thanksgiving and Christmas of 2004 in juvenile detention, until he went to inpatient tx. We brought him home on June 30th 2005, and now we are dealing with the side effects of the meds they were giving him for his behavior. Today was his first day back to school, with him being enrolled in a home bound program, where he only goes for 2 hours a day, until the side effects are gone. So I had gotten some spelling and language books to help him to try and get caught up, I got the same response that I always get, "I am not going to do it." and then he has been threating us with I will just walk out. How can I avoid all of this confirntation? And why is it that I always seem to be the one that is always on the phone with drs., schools, and I am the one that is getting treated so poorly. Everyone always says that he is so goodlooking, and so sweet, that they can not imagine that all of this is going on. I am at my wits end. And I am also at the verge of saying to heck with it, and letting him know how it feels to be treated like a door mat. If anyone has any advice I would love to chat with you about this, I know that I am not the only parent who is going through this...  

I am a 39 year old parent of 3. Our oldest is 19 and was recently married. Our youngest is 12 and loves school. Our son is 15, and has been diagnosed with O.D.D., and has been in 4 inpatient facilities, and also has gone thru outpatient tx. He is very defiant when it comes to any kind of authority, regardless of who you are. He has ran away from home 2 times in 2004, and also walked off school campus when he was suppose to be there for after school detention. We had a fins petition filed against us because he had missed so many days of school due to suspension. He spent Thanksgiving and Christmas of 2004 in juvenile detention, until he went to inpatient tx. We brought him home on June 30th 2005, and now we are dealing with the side effects of the meds they were giving him for his behavior. Today was his first day back to school, with him being enrolled in a home bound program, where he only goes for 2 hours a day, until the side effects are gone. So I had gotten some spelling and language books to help him to try and get caught up, I got the same response that I always get, "I am not going to do it." and then he has been threating us with I will just walk out. How can I avoid all of this confirntation? And why is it that I always seem to be the one that is always on the phone with drs., schools, and I am the one that is getting treated so poorly. Everyone always says that he is so goodlooking, and so sweet, that they can not imagine that all of this is going on. I am at my wits end. And I am also at the verge of saying to heck with it, and letting him know how it feels to be treated like a door mat. If anyone has any advice I would love to chat with you about this, I know that I am not the only parent who is going through this...  

I am a 39 year old parent of 3. Our oldest is 19 and was recently married. Our youngest is 12 and loves school. Our son is 15, and has been diagnosed with O.D.D., and has been in 4 inpatient facilities, and also has gone thru outpatient tx. He is very defiant when it comes to any kind of authority, regardless of who you are. He has ran away from home 2 times in 2004, and also walked off school campus when he was suppose to be there for after school detention. We had a fins petition filed against us because he had missed so many days of school due to suspension. He spent Thanksgiving and Christmas of 2004 in juvenile detention, until he went to inpatient tx. We brought him home on June 30th 2005, and now we are dealing with the side effects of the meds they were giving him for his behavior. Today was his first day back to school, with him being enrolled in a home bound program, where he only goes for 2 hours a day, until the side effects are gone. So I had gotten some spelling and language books to help him to try and get caught up, I got the same response that I always get, "I am not going to do it." and then he has been threating us with I will just walk out. How can I avoid all of this confirntation? And why is it that I always seem to be the one that is always on the phone with drs., schools, and I am the one that is getting treated so poorly. Everyone always says that he is so goodlooking, and so sweet, that they can not imagine that all of this is going on. I am at my wits end. And I am also at the verge of saying to heck with it, and letting him know how it feels to be treated like a door mat. If anyone has any advice I would love to chat with you about this, I know that I am not the only parent who is going through this...