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Why its okay to give up and let go of an adopted RAD child: (not give them away or end the adoption)
DonҒt be afraid to admit that you may not be the best thing that ever happened to the child.
Youre doing the best you can, itҒs all you can do, you are not the childs personal savior.
Too often, we feel that we are supposed to be their saviors, and we feel obligated to fix them, but we canҒt, they are not fixable. Its not our problem, we didnҒt break them. Why do we burden ourselves with all this? Were just human, doing the best we can, taking things one day at a time.
The way I look at it, GOD placed her in my home. If it wasnҒt meant to be, then she wouldnt be here. HE knows what he is doing, let him take care of her. He knows my limitations and I guess IҒm enough for her even with my limitations.
Is it wrong to provide food, clothing, housing, new experiences, entertainment, and an education for a child who was very limited to those things prior? No, thats providing a lot. You should feel good about that, not ashamed.
Other people expect you to do SO much more than that, why? Who are they to tell you what to do?
IҒve done quite enough already with 30 hours of parenting classes, a dozen books, hours online, phone calls, hours of therapy appointments, psych evals, group classes, I could go on
THIS isnŒt what I signed up for. I never knew anything about RAD until after years of struggling and wondering what the #$%& was going on with this kid. NO CLUE! COMPLETELY BLINDSIDED! Again, not my fault. I didnt sign on the dotted saying ғYES! I feel confident that I can successfully parent a child with RAD and heal them and turn them into normal kids and productive adults. If I knew about RAD ahead of time, experienced it first hand, I never would have done this.
All that being said, we have NO intention of giving her away or ending the adoption. We will continue to be miserable and struggle and just provide until she is 18. Then we are changing the locks or moving out of state. Our priority is keeping the rest of the family sane and holding onto our marriage. WeԒre not going let this ruin us. We must remain strong. We must put that first or we are of no good to her or anyone. Never forget that. Dont let RAD control the family. Both parents must be on the same page all the time! Back each other up even when you disagree. Take time out for yourself and for each other.
DonҒt let one persons (bio parent) mistake ruin more lives than it has to.
Remember they are in GODҒs hands and only HE can heal them.
At some point, I have to draw the line and say, weve done all we can. She is not responding to anything. She only gets worse the more we try. I am out of steam. I cannot do anymore. If everything I am doing isnҒt enough, then it never will be enough. And she stuck the way she is, I must accept that and accept her and all her faults. I must accept that we will not be the family I was hoping for, that she will not accept us as her family and that she will not return the love we offer her. I must applaud myself for doing all we have done up to this point and end our efforts to fix her. Just let go and move on.
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I'm not done trying yet, but I can relate to the weariness of attempting to help someone who refuses to be helped. In many ways, ''it is what it is''. We realize there are many things about her that may never change. We love her, but at some point she has to take responsibility for her own healing.
Momsalot
I'm not done trying yet, but I can relate to the weariness of attempting to help someone who refuses to be helped. In many ways, ''it is what it is''. We realize there are many things about her that may never change. We love her, but at some point she has to take responsibility for her own healing.
I totally hear what you are saying! I've had to do this with my 15 yr old son. I still want the best for him, and will continue to be sure that he has all the opportunities other kids have, and I want the best life for him possible, I care about him and love him, and support him. But I've had to learn to let go and "not care" in many instances - when he's lying or stealing or breaking the rules again and again and again, I've come to terms with the fact that it's not due to me not caring or loving or trying or to not being a great parent. It's just how he is and so when he gives me trouble now, I remember NOT to take it personally even if it seems directed at me, and I just "don't care" and we move past it, since I've learned over the past 11 years with him that he doesn't seem to learn or change his behaviors at all. Now I feel so much less stress and pressure and it's easier to get up each morning and have him a part of my life.
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