Anyone else have a bad Christmas? Seems like this wasn't a very good year.

One of my best friends got beat up by one of her kids. She has a daughter that is just completely gone on drugs - has been gone for a long, long time. And she just keeps trying to pull her out somehow.

Now her daughter has gotten really violent - and this isn't the first time something like this has happened.

I always feel so helpless. I just don't know what on earth to say. She really needs to just get away and stay away from that child. But it is just not that easy when it is your own child.

And another one of my friends got a $6.75 present from her kids - they are all grown and married. Now I'm sorry. But that is inexcusable. Why didn't they just sign a "get fucked" card and send it to her? And this is not a "bad" mother person. She is a very caring, loving mother.

Sometimes I start feeling sorry for myself when this or that doesn't work out - and then I listen to some people who have real problems. And it sure makes me realize just how lucky I am.

what I have. There's always something to be gratefull for, health, friends, surely something.:hug: :pals:

I am glad that my mom is feeling good - and I am sorry that other family members who never liked me are trying to keep me away from her. I have never felt so sad on Christmas. I am in the process of trying to moving out - I say trying because its hard for me to get an apartment with zero credit history. I am going to miss my mom so much but I can't stay in this house...

As a former longtime foster mom (and hoping to do so again in spite of my wheelchair) I can tell you that there are times when kids in deep shit really REALLY need the court system. All sorts of resources open up to parents at that point. A violent drug addicted child needs a lockdown rehab center. Most of them are only successful about 30% of the time but there are some really good one's out there and the court system will work with the mother to get the daughter transported to one and held there until the judge is convinced the kid is making some progress.

I know this sounds really coldhearted. It's isn't meant to be. It's meant to be tough advice for a touch situation.

And it works more often than jail alone or throwing a kid out of the house.

in January - for sales and something else. That poor child is just a mess. She is addicted to heroin, has been a prostitute - you name it. And she has other mental problems - she hears voices, too.

We don't have a lot of choices here in Missouri. She needs to be locked up somewhere but I don't think this family can begin to pay for that kind of help. So I think the alternative is prison - and that really isn't the place for someone like her. She needs to be in a mental facility.

But it is also true that the family is just unbelievably disfunctional. The daughter has been violent in the past.

I was expecting to have a wretched christmas - my long-term relationship fell apart recently and I've been on an emotional roller-coaster - but I spent the holiday alone with my parents and we had a very pleasant, relaxed christmas. It really re-charged my batteries. I think I'm going to pull through.

:hug:

You're a good woman to listen. IMO it's a gift, and most times those you're listening to don't even realize it.

Happy new year

And it never ends because she has no clue how to make it end.

I know someone whose life is like that, too. All we can do is listen and, when it seems like a good time, make suggestions. It's hard to love when you can't help.

But listening helps a lot. Sometimes folks just don't realize they're being helped enough to say thanks.

:hug:

for months. It might make it a little harder for her to get her drugs and it might make it a little more difficult for her to get pregnant while on drugs--yet again. *Just maybe*
She is definitely guilty of the crime (not a drug charge) and if the time she spends can possibly do her some good, I hope she's in for a bit of time.