Building friendships through support groups -- Summary
To create a support group of your own, visit Support. In the meantime, here's the latest installement from Sarah and Joan's group. To read the entire series, go to Friendship.
The end of the evening
As the meeting winds down, Joan brings us full circle to her initial question, how do you define a challenging child? “I think it’s clear from our discussion tonight that there isn’t one profile that fits all challenging children. Every one of our kids is different from the others, but some share similar problems. I think we each feel that our child overwhelms and even scares us sometimes. Our kids’ intensity and out-of-control emotions and behaviors cause us a lot of worry and frustration. The public humiliation and guilt we all talk about leaves us feeling inadequate as mothers.”
Maria is smiling in agreement. “I think all our kids have the potential to make life extraordinarily difficult or unbelievably delightful. We love our kids. We love their sweet faces. We appreciate their place in our families. But because life with them is so hard, I find it comforting that we support each other while we take the wild and unnerving ride of raising these kids. I’m really glad you joined us tonight, Sarah.”
As we say, “Goodnight” and the others say, “See you next month,” I know I’ll come back too. I already feel a warm connection with these women who seem to understand what’s hard for me about raising Nicholas. Thanks to this group I feel a sense of relief. I actually look forward to another day with Nicholas. He’s not the only kid on the block who is so hard to parent. And I’m not the only Mom who needs a group like this to help her hang on.
“So did you learn anything new?” my husband asks as I come through the door. “Yes.” I reply. “I learned that I’m not alone.”
