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Sunday, February 13, 2011

Control / Perfection issues

So I am still having problems walking Charlie.  I am so frustrated, I have made calls to different trainers.  They all cost hundreds of dollars.  I can't afford that, so I keep trudging along hoping I am doing ok at this.  In the house, he has calmed so much, and I have full control.  Outside, in the front and beyond, not the same story.

I talked to my Mom about this.  She reminded me of how I was obsessed with making sure I was a perfect Mom to TJ.  That I didn't (and still don't) want to be what most people see as a single Mother.  What most people see as a mother of a disabled child.  That I have to appear perfect.  That if he acted out in public, I was horrified.  I felt like (and still do) a really bad mother, and what everyone thinks of, when they hear about a single mom.

She is right.  I want to be perfect at this.  I want his life (Charlie's) and TJ's life to be what they deserve.  They deserve to be happy and to not show any form of contention.  I don't like hearing from others how to raise either of them.  I don't like hearing how I need to just be me and back off a little.  I don't like hearing how they would do it, if it was them. 

I don't like hearing it, because they have no idea what it is like to be in my shoes.  They have no idea how hard it is to balance (with TJ) a sense of perfection, and a sense of self.  They have no idea how hard it is to get a puggle to walk on a leash with a bad back from lifting and moving TJ around.  They all just have no idea.

Add to that, my insane need to be perfect and in control.  Yes Charlie has come a long way from where he was when he first got here, but I feel like he should be walking so much better on a leash.  The fact that I saw a boy about 10 years old, walking a puppy without any problems, doesn't help. 

I hate doubting myself, but that is where I am again tonight.  Full of doubt, and looking for control and perfection.

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