Since I started working with kids and families in February, I have realized a few things. We have all these terms for disorders that kids have in Behavioral Health. ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder), Bi-Polar Disorder, etc. I have gotten to deal with kids with some or all of these disorders. What I have discovered is a common theme. Usually, not always, but usually, their lives are very chaotic. Mom and Dad are divorced. Their family is struggling to make it financially. They have no structure in life. They don't feel loved. The hard part is, usually their parents came from the same circumstances. It's almost like a cycle.
So I come in, with no kids of my own, with limited life experience and what they would consider an easy life and I try and help them. It seems pretty twisted. How do I teach parents how to love their kids? It's really difficult, believe me. What's really scary is how much the kids act like their parents even at a really young age. They pick up everything, even facial expressions. Kids might grow up hating their parents and act exactly like their parents did. Of course we blame the disorders, but really it is a breakdown in relationship that might have started generations before.
I am so thankful to God that I get to experience this job before my beautiful wife and I ever decide to have kids. It has opened my eyes to the importance of the parent's role in the lives' of their kids. Three things I pray to offer my kids are unconditional love, structure, and consistency.
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