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My wife and I are nearing our wits end! Backstory: I'm 32, my wife is 25. We have been married for 7 years, have 3 of our own girls ages 6, 4, & 2. Last year, my wife's two youngest sisters were removed from their mothers home because she got into drugs again. We have been fostering them for 14 months now. They are now 17 and 15. The older one has her share of rebellious teenage stuff going, skipping school, mouthing off occasionally, etc. The younger one doesn't act out much, except to her sister. We had long figured that the youngest sister was operating at a reduced capacity. She has trouble with simple tasks, hygiene is not a priority, she basically needs to be coached like our toddlers. I suspect much of it is due to her mom having done drugs or drinking while pregnant, but it's simply my theory. She also had issues with severe seizures when she was younger. We're doing our best to try to get her ready for life on her own as an adult. I coached her through some mock interviews to help her get her first job at the local diner, getting her to prioritize daily things like bathing and laundry over tv and snacks. She does well enough if we take the time to monitor her every step of the way and correct her as needed, but just when we think she's getting the hang of things she messes something up. This morning she broke my wife's crock pot when she left it sitting on the edge of the counter. Yesterday she overloaded the wash machine and I spent 2 hours digging a sock out of the drive system to get it working again. The day before she left a knife on the counter in reach of our 2 year old after cutting some bananas. There are times I wonder if she's just doing these things for attention. We've spoken multiple times with her school, counselor, social worker, trying to get some help to determine whether she's actually slow, or faking it for attention. They all give us the run around, as if they don't want to take the time to anymore than they're legally obligated to do.
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Didn't know that was a thing. We'll look into it, thank you!
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Update: Checked into getting her seen by a developmental specialist. Without a referral, insurance won't cover it, and the county is taking longer and longer to send payments so we're not even sure the next check will be here in time to get it scheduled before school starts.Juli: mother taught them nothing. And I do mean nothing. She was either working, sleeping, or doing drugs. My wfie, being the oldest, raised her sisters until she herself was taken out of the home when she was 15.