Here We Are Again
For you.
Some of the best tips and tools for parents are on Drugfree.org. I find myself posting their posts and sharing their shares. Great idea: wait for it…how about you get their posts directly? Genius, I know, right? Let me whet your appetite with these addressed topics:
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It’s a Wonderful Life but it’s a Lot.
I struggle with people’s occasional (?) weirdness. Weirdness defined as not thinking the way I think, which is of course the right and only way. I feel hurt, confused and “What?” “Oh,” “Okay,” and “WhatEVER” about it. Makes me not want to be vulnerable and offer my something to be rejected. Makes me want to sit in my house in a butt-pocketed, well-worn La-Z-Boy with the same exact routine which does not involve getting involved. Makes me not want to give back, give out, give away. Makes me want to give up.
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Looks Bad on Paper
Years ago, about ten rows back in the auditorium a tearful mom talked to me after a school presentation on the dangers of alcohol and other drugs. “I don’t do anything that matters,” she said. “I’m so consumed with my son’s drug problem.” I could relate to the moon and back having felt that way to be sure. It gave new perspective to hear her say it out loud. What she does matters — she loves someone.
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What Helped Me
Once a month we have our Just Keep Going Parents Prayer hour. Strewn on the 6′ x 8′ table are white paper tents with the parent’s first name written in Sharpie, a slash mark and their child, niece, grandson or granddaughter or friend’s child who is using alcohol and/or other drugs, has mental health issues, or is in early recovery. There are over twenty-five pieces of paper with probably fifty names. Then we verbally add more from the lists in our head – kids we know who are using and others who are discovering recovery. We pray a lot of things for a lot of young people in that sixty minutes, but the best part is…
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