MENTAL BREAKDOWN

‘Bruh this stupid art work is so annoying’, came the text from my son this morning.

‘Why?’, I texted back.

‘It’s so hard like it makes no sence’, he replied.

‘Do the best you can’, I suggested. Then asked ‘What exactly doesn’t make sense’.

‘Linear perspective. I’m not doing it. It’s way to hard’, he let me know.

‘Just try your best’, I encouraged him.

This conversation continued for over 10 minutes, with my son insisting that he’s not an artist, that it’s too hard, and that he simply will not do the assignment.

‘It’s impossible’, he continued.

‘Let me see how I can help you. Nothing is impossible’, I tried to encourage him but he just wasn’t having any of it.

Another 10 minutes of my trying to convince him that it was possible to do the work was met with more resistance.

‘Can I come home for the rest of the day I can’t with this stupid school’, he insisted on leaving.

I tried to convince him to finish the rest of his day as it was Friday, but he had a mind of his own.

‘Cuz ima js skip cuz I can’t be in this school no more’, he replied. And that was that.

After a total of 30 minutes of texting back and forth about his frustrations with school, he showed up at our door. He simply left and walked across the street to our place.

The pressure on teenagers these days has caused many to experience a mental breakdown. The added schoolwork and additional homework have now increased at the start of this third six-week grading cycle. This has also caused my son to be physically ill.

I was still feeling unwell myself, but needed to get out of our home for a while. My work was done for the day and when my son showed up, we simply left together.

We went to REI, as today was the beginning of their Black Friday sale for members. We focused on clothes for my son. At least the base layers for today. He reluctantly tried on some clothes, but it was good that he did as we overestimated his size. His wearing baggy clothes all the time makes it seem he is much larger than his actual size.

Afterwards, went to World Market. His mood changed. Once again, he was my happy boy. The sight of all the Christmas decorations and the imported Christmas cookies and chocolates brought a smile to his face. He found Christmas-themed plates and tableware that he really liked, and arranged them on a display table. We walked out with only a forest green cotton rug for his bathroom and decided to return another time for the sweets.

Dinner was a simple split pea soup that I made earlier in the morning. Our dinner conversation was about art. Specifically about our creating art. He explained how his art class in school feels more like architectural art instead of Art I. That it is way too hard. I can understand how he felt, but encouraged the creativity of creating art outside of school. I see that he can be very creative and has that artistic and creative nature that just needs more encouragement in a non-school environment.

After dinner, he retreated to his room whilst I had other things I needed to do in the kitchen. And later on, we watched ‘13 Going on 30’.

Watching movies together is one of the signs of the seasons changing. But any time spent with our children is a cherished moment.