Sunday morning isn’t always Mommy time but when it is I’m so grateful.
Dad will take the kids food shopping and I get to just spend a few hours to myself doing whatever pleases me.
I must say this isn’t always a productive few hours sometimes I go back to bed and sleep a while longer. Then there are times I’m totally productive and get stuff done that maybe I wouldn’t get done if they were around me.
This Sunday I did nothing, well not strictly true I sat and cried, no sorry let me rephrase that I sobbed.
For years, Tumblr has been one of my favorite platforms for blogging, it’s such a creative space with some amazing people. It’s not for everyone but if you love the non-traditional then you will love Tumblr. This Sunday I hopped over to Tumblr to catch up with some of my favorite bloggers and as I sipped my black tea with honey I browsed, then I went to the search bar (which isn’t my normal) and typed in Reactive Attachment Disorder.
I really didn’t expect to find anything of interest or find anything that I didn’t already know.
What I did find was heart breaking, traditionally Tumblr is a more teen young adult platform, people say its full of hipsters and wannabees, personally I disagree but everyone is entitled to their opinion.
My searched revealed to me the heart break of teens and young adults people dealing with RAD, and it would seem they feel very much alone.
In one post a young girl talks about how there is no information on this mental illness where teens and young adults are concerned, that all she ever finds is information on how parents can help young children. Another post was about support groups, how they are purely for parents and she states “Sadly, a lot of the chats were mostly parents complaining about and asking for help to deal with their “problem” child.”
I hate to think they feel so alone out there, I wonder what help they are getting and if they are getting help in what shape or form, are they in families that understand them.
I have this intense feeling of gathering them all up and pulling them into me because I hate the suffering that comes with RAD.
Then I look at my two teens and wonder what they are going through in their heads, are they coming to me when things get to hard and do I recognize when they are having a hard time or am I just brushing it off as Teen Brain.
Am I as the primary care-giving do my job correctly.
And then I cry because I don’t want another child to go through this, I don’t want another child to get to be a young adult and still be suffering so badly.
They call me a fixer, I want to fix everything that is wrong in someone’s life, I know this is not possible, but the urge to do so is there.
So, what do I do
Do I create an online support group and gather all these teens together and let them talk,?
Do I gather the parents who have experience in RAD up and say “Hey we need to be doing more these kids are suffering and it is our job to make it right?”
Do I start a group to mentor young mothers on how the raise their babies so RAD doesn’t develop?
I truly believe that Me and You are one step away from making a difference in a young person’s life, one step away from a success story and one step away from helping someone heal from their trauma.
We just need to get up and do it, be brave and reach out.
Just last night I watched a short video that inspired me even more so to get something done….
Josh Shipp was just one of those kids I talk about …. A success story all because of one person who saw him as an opportunity and not a problem
Every Kid is ONE Caring Adult Away from Being a Success Story