The angsty young man has been back under our roof for 20 days and we have had precisely zero arguments. Zero. I hesitate to call it a miracle (although that's what it feels like)...it's actually the product of a conscious shift in perspective and approach on our part. The teenager, I think, is still reeling from the contrast...unsure whether it will last but not wanting to question it.
That is to say that things are good at home. Peaceful, even. Three months ago, I really didn't think this was possible. I had resigned myself to suffering through his last two years of high school focused solely on survival...waiting for it to be over. A horrible way to spend a day, let alone two years.
Has the teenager become a model citizen who awakes each morning ready to go out and do his part in the world? No. Is that what anyone was expecting? I don't think so. But he's doing better.
The more we've let go without giving in, the more we've seen him step up in small ways. The less we do for him, the more he has to do for himself and, for once, he isn't resentful of that. It's progress...and for that, I am grateful.
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