Ya! It's messing with my mind!! Help me!!

@celticeagle (189820)
Boise, Idaho
November 12, 2009 9:52pm CST
I am so excited. On December 20 my granddaughter turns 18. OH HAPPY DAY!!!! It has been a long long time coming. It has not been a normal grandma, granddaughter relationship. Oh, up until she was about 11 she was a good girl. So intelligent she was in the gifted class in grade school. She was such a sweet girl. Anything she got she wanted to share and she loved her Bratz dolls. I had guardianship of her from the time she was three and a half until she was 16. What happened you ask? Well the great kid that was doing so well in school turned into a pre-teen. She started hanging out with a strange crowd of Gothic kids. Dressed okay but make-up her face with a black spider web under one eye. She didn't like going by the rules I set down for her. She wanted to be out as late as she wanted. I had to call the police more than a dozen times just to get her to go to school int he mornings. Then there were days I had to go pick up from school because she refused to do her work in class. I also had to leave work when her mother called saying she was out of control and was punching her mother in the arm. I left work to go home and take care of the situation. Then she broke in a window and stole her mother's bank card and figured out the code and took over $100 out of her mom's account. She was put on probation. So the summer of her sixteenth birthday she was still running wild. I would go to sleep at night thinking all was safe in the house and she would leave. I would wake up at some point, usually to use the bathroom in the night, and happen to check in on her and she would gone. The police were called. She was put in juvie. By that time I was beside myself and H&W decided they would foot the bill for her to go to a home for girls. She started to show signs of adhering to the rules and getting a good repore with the counselor there and was calming down alittle when she was taken out of the home because H&W would only pay for a month of her stay there. I came unglued! She was finally behaving and was doing better and they wanted to let her lose. I was having panic attacks, missing work, etc. It was a real HORRIBLE time. I got a woman at H&W to call a meeting so I could talk to all the people that were involved in her case and see if she could stay at the Girl's home alittle longer. I didn't feel she was safe at home. I was afraid for her and, at this point I was afraid for myself, my daughter and my grandson. The meeting was a fiasco. I tried to expain the situation and how well she was doing. The counselor from the Girl's home appeared and told them how well she was doing. NO! They felt she was doing better now and would come home. The first day I had her home I had to call the police because she would not get up and go to school. I took her to school that day because she missed her bus and hoped things would go okay. She came home and still would not go by the rules. She wanted to stay out after her curfew (and with an older boy) and it was a school night. I told her she couldn't go. We were in the door to her bedroom and she went to strike me, I moved out of the way and nearly went down the stairs! She came back at me and did strike me that time. I called the police and charged her with charged her with assault. She was taken away in handcuffed with her friend and all of us our in the frontyard crying as she drove away in the police car. When the Juvenile Department called to tell me she was being released I had had enough. I told them I refused to pick her up. She was put in a home and I didn't see her for along time. She went through some homes and her step dad took her for awhile. Then her biological father took her. Fast forward to today-November 12. I still feel guilty for not taking her back when she was released from juvie. I am thinking how badly I felt back then when I couldn't take care of her anymore. Did I do the right thing? I felt awful! On December 20th she becomes 18 and is old enough to fend for herself. She is doing better and hasn't been in trouble with the law. I hope she will do okay. I put this down here because I needed to have some closure. Did I do the right thing? I think so. How about you? She and I do not get along and she is back living with us for a time. I am beside myself. She won't get work. She won't get her GED taken care of. She won't......... she won't.....etc., etc. But in 38 days she will be 18 and responsible for herself. I can only wish her well and hope she takes some enitiative and gets after her life. But, how do I cope with her living off of us and not doing anything? How long can I go taking care of her?Can't just kick her out but......???? Any ideas from my friends out there? Kick her out? I've tried having the family meeting and making it plain what is expected of her. Then what? Any ideas?
2 people like this
3 responses
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
14 Nov 09
am sorry to here this an I suppose you might have to try tough love and sned her out on her own! Good luck!
2 people like this
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
19 Nov 09
that is sad. with no dad around but aot of people adjust to that so I am hopeing she is doing well for herself!
2 people like this
@celticeagle (189820)
• Boise, Idaho
19 Nov 09
I just wish she would get motivated and get a job. Can't afford to keep everybody! She and her bf could atleast help out.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (189820)
• Boise, Idaho
18 Nov 09
Yes, that was two summers ago now. I did have to let her out on her own. Foster homes and then her step dad and then her biological father. I think was the problem all along. Her dad was never around and she felt unloved in that area of her life. Still does.
1 person likes this
@msedge (4011)
• United States
13 Nov 09
life - I tried so hard to straighten my niece life.
I can feel how hard the situation was because i have also a niece that almost like her.She was really a burden for the family.We tried our best to guide her on the right path but still she always go to where she wanted to go either it is good or bad.She got married at 16 and until now she still think immaturely.I don't know what to do with her but i still try to keep supporting her with all aspects in her life to let her know that i really love and care for her.I just hope she realize everything before something bad will happen to her.I think we both tried to straighten their lives but its really up to them how to handle everything.
@celticeagle (189820)
• Boise, Idaho
14 Nov 09
I was immature and didn't believe or understand what my mom told me until I was around 25. It is up to them. It is just very hard when you know they should be out doing some things and they are not and just care about their immediate satisfaction. How long do we pay her way??
1 person likes this
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
13 Nov 09
We do what we have to do sometimes my friend. You should not feel guilty because you done your best to try and take care of that girl. Sometimes it is out of our control the choices that they make and what they want to do. I would say..that if it were me..tough love would be in order, If she doean't abide by the rules of the house then you can tell her she must get her own home so that she can make her own rules. That's not kicking her out..that's giving her a choice. Sometimes it takes that to have someone realize that they are responsible for their own life.
2 people like this
@celticeagle (189820)
• Boise, Idaho
13 Nov 09
Yes, tough love seems to be the ticket and about the only card i have to play. I have read the technique of www.loveandlogic.com and I believe in their way of looking at things. I think what I need is the situation to arise so things will get rolling. I am tired of always being the bad guy and footing the bill.
1 person likes this