[Mercat]

I totally know where you are. We raised a sociopath. I'm not ready to accept that it's our fault. Fortunately, she became an adult without burning down anything. She did commit felonies however which resulted in her being jailed for six months on a misdemeaner as an adult... we kept her 2 year old which was a joy but a hard row for two old folks like us. And now we rarely see her so I'm still dealing with depression from that. sigh. It's a rollercoaster for sure. I feel for those parents and I think that there should be a separate hearing to determine whether they failed as parents. I met a lot of parents in the juvie program who were good, decent folks. They had no idea how this had happened.

[ladylib]

And just because they had one kid was a problem doesn't mean that their other children were problems.

Do the juvenile authorities ever take that into consideration, especially in states where parents can be charged with a crime if one of their children is a delinquent?

[speekinout]

One of my best friends has 5 kids. 3 are real joys. 2 are drug dealers on their best days, and who knows what the rest of the time.

He and his wife spent years - from when these kids were 14 until they were old enough to get kicked out - being afraid to sleep, because they never knew what would happen. A call from the police was a good day.

Sometimes good parents get bad kids. Sometimes it's the other way around.

[Not A Snowbird]

I'm so sorry for the choices your daughter has made with her life. I used to look at out of control kids and think "good grief, what's the parents' problem?" Now I'm living it and I can see that sometimes kids just choose the wrong path no matter what their parents try.

Hugs to you and your grandbaby... and prayers for your daughter.