We celebrated Emma turning 13. It is hard to believe that she is already 13, the time really does fly. She is in the 6th grade so she is beginning middle school here and has three years and then she will be in high school!
Now this is where is gets hard, I read all the birthday posts and they are all overflowing with how much a child has grown and all sorts of positive things and that is hard for me.
The positive, she loves the dogs. She will get up early in the morning and let them out and feed them. She has a very strong attraction to them. She also loves all things horse. She says that she is going to have a horse farm when she grows up.
Her hair is starting to grow a bit and looks healthier. She would prefer to eat a diet of junk food and bread and I have simply started buying a lot less and she no longer has my moms stash to go to, this is forcing her to eat more food that is prepared for her. She even noted that her hair looks better.
Her lying has decreased. Partially because I work hard to not ask her questions which she can lie to. I think she is learning better ways than lying to get around things. She is also great at playing with Benjamin so that she can use him.
She was happy with her gifts, all things horse, candy and money.
We are still working on things. Relationships are not as hostile right now although she can show quite a bit of disrespect to Sarah and is quite mouthy. It hasn't really worked for her so I am not sure why she doesn't change that behavior. She is very immature for her age, she is more at a 9 or 10 year old stage emotionally and academics are a challenge for her. She has lost all free computer time because of grades and hasn't yet decided that extra work will be beneficial.
So overall things are improving. I wonder if we have a little chance of more growth because although she is now a teenager, emotionally she is much younger. Anyone else with that experience?
So....Happy 13th Birthday to Emma! May you have a great year.
Have you thought that she might be on the autism spectrum? Girls are under-diagnosed and can often "pass", but with high functioning autism they are about 2/3 their age emotionally. I have been reading your blog for many years and have learned so much from you. I have often thought that both Michelle and Emma might be on the spectrum, since they don't seem to respond to normal behavioral interventions. This is also typical of high functioning autism.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a psychologist, just someone with several family members on the spectrum.
Best wishes and please keep posting!
Maybe horseback riding lessons or volunteering at an animal rescue shelter would be beneficial. I have a friend who's son was that way and now he is in his early 30s is married and has kids and you would never believe this guy was that kid. So different now its crazy.
ReplyDeleteHappy 13th Birthday to Emma. She has grown alot since I started reading your blog a few years back.
Erika