On this subject. I never know what to do with my stepson.
When he was a teenager, he was a tweaker….bad. To the point that his mother and father WENT TO COURT in an attempt to have him forceably put into lockdown treatment before he ended up dead. That attempt failed.
At some point, someone he cared about died in a horrible car wreck. And somewhere around that time my wife and I had to start taking care of her invalid mother (his grandmother) and so we needed his help. That was when he was just about to turn 20.
There were times when his behavior was so awful, we were forced to kick him out anyway, but it would usually be just a couple of months before he was out of a job with nowhere to go, and we were having difficulty taking care of mom without him, so he would be let back in.
He did finally get completely clean. He helped around the house and helped take care of his grandmother for 13 years until she passed in March of 2017. And we probably couldn’t have made it down the home stretch without him.
But now what? He’s a massive reclusive. He’s got **** for a job history. He’s 36. He doesn’t drive. His teeth are rotting out. He’s technically a “dead beat dad” so if he ever did get a job they would take nearly everything. He’s most likely got similar mental issues like my wife does, but with no insurance…good luck getting him any help.
He does the yard work, and takes out the trash, and otherwise takes care of things around the house that his mother can’t do while I’m at work.
I love him. And I wish I could motivate him to do more. But at this point, he gets free room and board, and we have a….what…a “ward” I guess? He doesn’t do nothing. But I’m not sure he could do much more than what he is doing.
Heck…even I need help taking care of his mother sometimes.