A difficult situation with a child

One of my friends, C, is going through a difficult situation with her daughter, T. The daughter, T, is 18 years old and a senior in high school. Back in early December, T decided to move out of C's house. T moved in with her boyfriend, G, a 20 year old male. They live in a house with a friend and that friend's parents. G does not have a job, he just hangs out. So far, T is still attending high school. My friend, C, learned all of this from her other daughter, L, who is 16 years old and is still in contact with T. C has not talked to T since she moved out of the house.

As a parent, I can't help but to put myself in C's shoes and wonder what I would do in that situation. I really have no idea what I would do. What can you do? I know what I would want to do and that would involve a shotgun and a visit to the house where she was staying. But I have a feeling that would not end very well. If your child is old enough to move out, there is not much that you can do to stop them.

As a parent I know that as A and A2 get older I will try to help them avoid the same mistakes that I made while growing up. My parents did that for me. Sometimes that will work and the mistake will be avoided. Other times they will have to learn by making the mistakes themselves and dealing with the consequences. At times, children do not think that their parents are very smart. They do not realize that most of the time, the parent has already been through the same situation and learned from that situation. I can only imagine how difficult it is for a parent to watch their child screw up when it is avoidable. Even worse would be watching the child repeat the parent's mistake.

Children do not come with a manual. You do not need a license to have a child. The most important job in the world is also the most difficult. As the child gets older, it seems that the job gets more difficult. At some point, you have to trust in God and how you raised them and let go. I know that I will be dealing with that all too soon. To me it seems like just yesterday that A was born. He is almost 9 and is in the third grade. In theory, at 9 years old he will be half-way through his time under our roof. That is hard to believe. It feels like tomorrow he will be graduating from high school and heading off to Texas. Time goes by so fast.

Posted via email from will7079's posterous