Quote From: mom1818Let me guess you have teens? and are any of them addicts? if you answered NO to either then how can you even judge. You have NO idea of what it is like to fight the addiction with your child. Did you ever think it has nothing to do with the "items" he is given but with the crowd that is around him and in a hour long show you can not learn what is going on in a child's life. I have a son that fights the same addiction every day and i watch the struggle he has when one or more of the enablers try to come around, as a parent you can only do so much. I DO pay for the truck, I DO pay the insurance and I HAVE taken it all away and will he will not get it back till he can PROVE he is clean!! Just because we as parents can give our kids these things why is it they are SPOILED? has it ever occurred to any one that maybe we just like to see them smile once in awhile?. AS for you calling these parents LAZY... you are the JOKE... you can fight with all your might to help your addicted child but that doesn't always work.... Your family must be perfect so i guess you can cast the stones, mine it is not am i LAZY cuz my teen became addicted? NO!!! i am not at 18 he still has to tell me where and who he will be with and they have to pick him up cuz right now he's not allowed to drive. I hope that people like you will never have to endure what parents with addicted teens have to go thru, or maybe you should volunteer at a rehab center for teens see it first hand, they come from all walks of life, then get back on here and apologize to this mother who struggles day to day.
First let me thank you from the bottom of my heart. When I come back and forth to this message board and read some of this my heart breaks again and again. You understand and I thank you for that. No judgement. Just understanding. Because you are so very right, noone knows until we walk in each other's shoes. To answer the questions from the previous writer- We absolutely do not let him drive the Mustang. We bought the mustang for our oldest son. It is a 2001. He worked and paid for it and bought himself a truck. The mustang is paid for and my son Cole wanted to leave it for Brad. We do pay for the insurance. THat is because Brad is not liscensed nor does he drive it. He just knows it is there when and if he can stay clean and sober. You are right. It is a weapon. And I will not allow my son to use that weapon until he has proven he can be responsible. The damage and destruction he has caused of course he has to pay for and fix them. Of course he has consequences. - Just so everyone knows, I feel undescribable guilt each and every day of my life. Did I do the right thing? Was I a good mom? Did I give him too much? Did I give him too little? What could I have done better? I will live with those and so many more all of my life. We do have 3 other older children none of which have an addiction. To the mom who wrote this letter. Again thanks. I so know what you are talking about and my heart aches that you are going through this or have gone through this too. My goal in doing the Dr. Phil show was not only to get help for my son but to maybe show people that there is help out there and we are not alone. We too struggle continuously with enablers trying to come around. We struggle with knowing where he is at and who he is with. I feel I live in a constant state of worry and concern. But I do know that each day is a new day and each day is a day that things can be better. I love and adore Bradley. No matter what. But I am not blinded by the struggle he lives with. I pray that life can be wonderful for our children. I pray that we as parents can see the joy in their lives and watch them live it. I know in my heart it can happen.
