Parents: BEWARE

[SouthFloridawx]

How did the conversation with your son go fur?

[southerngale]

i'm sorry to hear about that. the stores here dont sell OTC cold meds to people under 18.

Here too. I've been at Walmart late at night needing medicine and couldn't buy it because it was in the pharmacy and the pharmacy closes early. It's a shame that this is even a problem.

furry...good luck and I'll keep your son in my prayers. 14 seems awfully young for this to happen. I hope your youth pastor can counsel him and help. I know kids can be stubborn though, but hopefully he will open up to someone and get the help he needs. This can lead down such a dangerous road.

Who did he stay with while y'all were in Florida? I gather that's when you think it started. He needs new friends!!

[yoda]

Good luck talking with him Furry. I hope that you and your youth pastor can steer him away from that path. It is a dangerous path. I too have tried "self-medicating" or what can be called just "taking." That means you do something to yourself to lessen the pain or deaden it just so that you can sleep, actually have fun, etc. I will admit I have done the dance with OTC drugs including Robitussin. I have tried very hard to ween myself off that, and it is working somewhat. Trust me... with OTC drugs... one bad OD... and you are done.

BTW... I know I am delving a bit too deep into my life.. but if your child looks "drunk"... and you know he/she hasn't been drinking... RED FLAG.

[HurricaneBill]

Kids chugging Robitussin to get high?!

When I was little, my parents practically had to use the jaws of life to get my mouth open whenever I had to take Robitussin.

[furluvcats]

Hi, I'm sorry I have not responded...we got the trojan virus thingy...oh my has it been a pain! All cured now though, so I am finally online.

First of all, I really appreciate you all sharing your related stories, and the well wishes. REALLY appreciate you all. I've shared this post with my son, and I think it was good for him to read real life experiences. We put him through a major change...first of all, we changed his look, and boy did it help his attitude and how we percieve him. His long locks are now short...his tight skater jeans are a thing of the past, and the idiots he "partied" with are forbidden...he has taken this well...he is hanging with the good kids again...but only in my presence...the real test will be when school starts again, and he is on his own. We're just getting him in shape, and hopefully equipping him with the right stuff to say NO. He said he had just wanted to hang with the really good skaters, be one of them...and the drugs helped seal him with them...how sad. If kids don't like him bc he does not "party"...then move along and skate with kids who are clean...so, I see where the peer pressure thing kicked in, and I see that he made that choice to cross the line himself. His attitude has changed, he seems happy again, like my little boy...and I'm very thankful. I think we nipped this thing before it got carried away...but time will tell. I'll never let my guard down. He knows the condition for getting, and KEEPING a car, is monthly drug tests, that hepasses as clean!!!! What an awesome incentive, don't you think??? He turns 15 in a week, and really wants the freedom of having a car...but its a freedom he will have to EARN, and KEEP. Keep praying for us please, and watch your babies...keep em all safe!

[Stephanie]

Shannon - it sounds like you have him heading in the right direction, but like you said time will tell, especially when school starts. You have the right "incentives" in place and perhaps if he seems happier, he'll realize that he is better off.

We're all here for you!

[furluvcats]

PS SG...We left him with an awesome Christian family, friends of ours, their son is his best friend, and he goes to a private christian school, and always takes Brett along with him to all the school events/parties, etc...This boy is a GOOD boy....Brett did this crap under the parents nose...at school...(mine goes to public school), so away from their son...and then my son left his youth group to go skate with the bad kids, when he got high...so, he knew we were gone...and we thought we left him in a safe place...its not the parents fault...gosh, my son did this while they took him to school, and to church...who would have guessed???? Ya know? We have not TOLD them what has happened...we went to their sons middle school graduation and out to dinner with the family last week, but the timing was wrong, since we were celebrating their sons graduation...we ARE taking them to dinner tomorrow night, Bretts last night home, and talking to them about it, bc they need to be aware...and deserve a heads up, and I think my son needs to apologize to them as well...don't you? They will be shocked...but I am pretty confident that they love my son enough to keep on loving him...even though he made a few (serious) mistakes.... He's going to have a busy summer and be around a lot of love...I'm just going to miss him like crazy!



Thank you Steph...I appreciate you and your concern . Anyone ever tell you, you're one of the good girls? lol

[Stephanie]

Thanks Furry!

I think you're approaching Brett's family the right way. I think that they will understand. Teenagers just go through periods like this and you hope and pray that they will learn from their experiences. Most do.

[george_r_1961]

Shannon if all parents responded to their childs problems like you and your husband did we would not have the juvenile crime/drug problem we have today.

By showing him that what he did was wrong you are greatly reducing the chances of him doing this again. Better his parents showing him than the judge.

Great job Shannon!

[SouthFloridawx]

Sounds like your are on the right path. Good job in changing the his surroundings as it is easier when they are in thier teens. As he gets older hopefully he will stick with the friends you have set him up to hang out with. As far as the drug test thing... may be a little extreme but, I thought about it for a little while and it really is a good incentive. You won't be able to trust him driving a car if he is doing drugs and as he passes his drug tests you can become a little more lax in the future and grant him more respect and likewise you should get it back. I was one of those kids who did what I wanted no matter what my mom said. I think he's on the right track.

If you have to party to fit in with friends... they are not friends at all. The reason for this is that a real friend would not make you do something you did not want to do. They would be concerned for you and want the very best in your life.

[george_r_1961]

Ohhhh yes I agree with drug testing 100 percent in this case to let him know that you ARE monitoring him closely. I believe there are home tests available; if not the tests can be done at a clinic and they arent terribly expensive.

[tropicana]

Furry, I know everything will be ok with your son, I just know it, you sound like too good a mother...plus your son has a good home, he just had some weak moments it appears and made some wrong decisions, but hopefully, with extra vigilance and all that love around him, he will SHINE and make you proud!
I'll keep praying

-justin-