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Monday, August 21, 2017

The meeting of the golf carts


As I mentioned in my last post, we decided for Hunter to do an online schooling called K12. It had many benefits. He did not have the social difficulties of starting a new school, but he was able to still socialize with the teachers and students online. It seemed like the best of both worlds…for a while.
Then, he became more and more isolated. We began to not be able to get him out of bed. He wanted to stay up all night and sleep all day. He lost all motivation for school and life in general. We tried to get him involved in social events around town, but he was not interested. He did do a recreational youth basketball league that our church hosts, and he enjoyed it, but otherwise he was miserable. After it ended, he sunk deeper and deeper into depression.
I reached out to his counselor at school who was amazing. She even offered to meet face to face with Hunter once a week to just talk. She set up a few social events with local online school kids to help get him out of the house. Those days seemed better for him, but the rest of the days were very difficult. I knew he was unhappy, but I just wasn’t sure how to get him out of his slumber. He wanted to sleep constantly, but when he was awake, he was belligerent. He blamed everyone around him for what he considered a miserable life. He blamed us for moving him from Texas and his friends. He blamed his teachers for his failing grades. He was so unhappy, and I didn’t know where to turn. We were approaching the move into our new home, so it was push time on getting final painting, floors and trim done. We were still living with my parents, and the tension was building. You could cut it with a knife. I was at the end of my rope.
Finally, a mom of another online student gave me the idea that he could possibly attend our local high school for a few hours each day, just to give it a try, but still take online classes each afternoon. This idea intrigued me. We were approaching the end of school, and things were not getting better.
Simplicity is the spice of life around our little town and everyone loves it. In a town with very little to do, the ballfield becomes the social arena. Everyone brings their favorite beverages and cheers their players. What makes this little town even more amazing, was that I was able to pull my golf cart next to the principal of our local high school’s golf cart during one of the little league games. We went to high school together, so I have known him longer than I’d like to admit. We had a little chat about Hunter’s options at school. He asked me to give him a call the next week to get things arranged.
I was nervous to approach the subject with Hunter. He was so unhappy, and the smallest things were triggering him, so approaching the idea of throwing him into a public school again with a group of his peers he did not know was treading on thin ice. Surprisingly, when I mentioned the idea to him, he was optimistic and slightly excited about giving it a try.
The next week, the principal put me in touch with the school counselor. Talking to her seemed like I was talking to my guardian angel. She took me under her wing and helped me figure out our next steps. We met with her and she had a simple, concise list of classed Hunter was eligible to take. He was able to choose some fun classes, so he was pretty excited. We left there in 45 minutes with my newly enrolled junior in high school. He would be taking marketing, PE, history, and a resource class with Teacher’s Aids to help him with his homework. For the first time in a long while I could breathe again, and I could see the relief in Hunter’s eyes. His mood immediately shifted, and everything seemed a little brighter.