Mommy panic outcome

Here's the outcome of the Mommy panic So, I didn't even ask Gordo if he wanted the scale. He dropped the subject and so did I. Last week he caught his best (girl) friend necking in the stairwell with his best friend. Yesterday, his tennis mate didn't attend because she is grounded until summer for getting drunk. Today one of his friends got suspended because he pushed a guy into the wall who called him *** in front of eberybody. My son is 12 years old. I wasn't prepared for this. I mean, come on, we live in a good neighborhood with blue ribbon schools; the hs is # 2 in all Texas (is that a take on the high class drunk?) Anyway, what to do. I've been fighting my own battles and looks like I'm going to have to pay attention to someone else for a change (I don't neglect them, but you know what I mean). So, because we don't belong to a church, a friend of mine suggested I go to Al-anon. She said of course my son is not a drunk, but it does run on both sides of my family, I obviously have an addictive personality or I wouldn't have gotten to 370 and become a drunk myself ( I have no shame admitting if I hadn't used food or alcohol, I can easily see me using another substance. Dead is dead. Death is non-judgemental as to method of choice) She said Al-anon taught her how to handle the teen years as they came along and helped her support and guide her child as opposed to becoming frustrated and perpetuating generations of poor coping skills. I'm going to try it. I want to break the cycle and I am the first to say that I spent most of my life eating rather than developing life skills. So, in a way, losing weight was fun compared to this! But at least I'm a good place for my kids instead of being numbed out. So I may have a nice bod, but now the rubber meets the road. I have taken responsibility for myself. Can I now take responsibility for someone else? I will. Vicki

Vicki, I went to an al-anon meeting with a friend and really enjoyed it. Most addicts are co-dependents too and that gets real dicey with teens and young adults. I speak from experience here. The only reason I do not attend them is that my friend needs her time there without me present at least for now. I was just talking to a good friend who has 18 yr clean time. He is married to a recovering addict of 17 yr and now their son who is 14! is in recovery. He just started going to Al-anon and says it is really helping him with teen issues. Good luck. I am blessed with kids that are by and large okay but still I have to deal with all the issues. No one escapes the teen years. Certainly not me. Heck my 17 yr old daughter is dating a recovering addict. It has turned out to be a true gift from God, but it is a long and difficult story. You will do fine because you have your eyes open. Laurie