Life Transitions - OMG!!!!!

I am completely changing course with this blog. I think I have had a sudden onset of ADHD and bipolar disorder over the last two weeks. I recently had an the opportunity to go away for the weekend with some friends and I think the upsurge of serotonin has created some significant brain changes. Seriously! I don't know if I needed a vacation more than my friends or if I am just in a different place in regards to my marriage than them, but they were calling home several times a day to check on everyone and I could have cared less. Don't get me wrong, I love my children, but there was no use fretting over whether they had baths or went to bed on time. My husband doesn't do things my way so why get worked up about it. I have needed to let go for a long time. Although fulfilling a childhood dream when your 30 isn't exactly the same as when you were 13, if was certainly the next best thing. I was able to fully walk away from all the stress in my life and fully immerse myself in pure fun.

In looking at Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development, I think I am at a point where I am renegotiating my relationship with others at this point in the game. I have been overly consumed with parenthood and it's responsibilities, that I have profoundly neglected myself. Starting school was certainly a catapult into this direction. I have been fighting it for months now. As Hutchinson points out in The Changing Life Course, " The young adult who is exploring and expanding identity experiences tension between independence and self-sufficiency on one hand and a need for connection with others and reliance on a greater whole on the other".

Since starting school, I think I view dysfunction in my life with a magnifying glass. How in the world do I have any business helping others when my life seems so screwed up? I am slowly beginning to realize that we all have issues. I am still not wholly satisfied with that prospect but am learning to deal. I have found that personal limitations are more evident to me and feel challenged to improve myself.


I suppose I have been rambling, but I don't think that my brain can move in any other direction at this point. The flood gates have opened and I am not sure if I am wearing my life jacket!!!!!!!

Multi-generational Relationship Patterns

As I navigate through early adulthood, I have been able to finally admit that my parents arent as stupid as I thought they were 15 years ago. I also am able to look at some of the things they said and did and realize how faulty they were as individuals. I have spent time reflecting on my childhood, almost as if I am reliving it through similar familial experiences with my own children. Early adulthood as a parent can bring back so many feelings regarding our own parents. I am young enough to remember how I felt when my mother announced a "surprise purse check". I was a good kid for the most part. I drank for the first time when I was 18, never did drugs, tried smoking but not really. Talking back was the worst thing I did, and I did it a whole lot.



I have recently become fearfull for my children. My oldest especially. I know how tough things can be and I dont want to have to see her go through the same things. I know I can not save her from all that life has to offer. I consider my life to have been fairly

Young Adulthood Effected by Childhood Abuse and Neglect

While I would not say that I am a childhood victim of abuse and neglect, I am no less effected by it. I can tell you that being the adoptive parent of children with this history has certainly effected me in adulthood. Abuse and neglect in early childhood has had a profound impact on my children's abilities to connect with me, their primary caregiver. They have behavior that is dysfunctional, unsafe and embarrassing. Can you imagine having children in your home who do not know how to love or accept love (you probably do if you have ever lived with a teenager!). I have had to make decisions that no other 23 0r 27 year old I know has ever had to make. By the time I was 26 years old, I already had 5 children and worked a full time job.

I think that in the field of social work, I hope to help individuals who have been victims of abuse and neglect. Their immediate family members need help too! Being involved in high stress situations can bring an additional form of trauma to a family. A mother who is raising a bipolar teen will need help too! These family members may be so focused on getting care for their loved one, that they forget to attend to their mental health needs. Our mock psychosocial assessment this week brought to light how there are issues that effect other family members. While the son was the one who seemed to have the presenting problem, it was evident that the mother had some needs as well. A holistic approach appears to be beneficial.