So we had a bit of a scare today… my 11 year old nephew decided to just leave home.

He’s really sensitive. I think it has alot to do with the fact that his dad is 62 and his mom is 41. They alternate between babying him and turning him into an old man.

But anyway, the story went like this..
He was supposed to read a book this summer at my brother-in-law’s request. He didn’t do it. He got in trouble and was told that he couldn’t watch tv for 3 days. My sister tried to help him out and run interference with my brother-in-law but what does she catch my nephew doing??? Yep, watching tv when he was supposed to be reading. She told him that she “wouldn’t be nice to him anymore”. The baby took that literally. He has very low self-esteem (something that I’m trying to work on with him) so he thought it would be best if he just left. He took a down coat (no money though) and proceeded to walk 80 blocks toward downtown. He got lost and flagged a police officer to ask for directions to his great-grandmother’s house since it would be the closest. The officer ran his name and told him that he would have to come to the station because he ran away from home. By this time, he had been gone EIGHT hours.

Meanwhile, my sisters and I are combing the neighborhood trying to come up with where he could have gone. We checked fast food joints, movie theaters, parks, everything. Needless to say, we were a bit upset.

So I just went to his house to hug and kiss him and to tell him that he had better not EVER do anything like that again. This is the second time he has just left home. I tried to explain to him that he has 3 aunts that love him and he can call any one of us at any time and we will drop what we are doing to see about him. I also had to remind him that love comes from within as well and even if it were true that his mother would not be nice to him ever again, he will always have the love that comes from inside. I told him again about people who HURT children. Shoot, in a minute I’m gonna find a “sca.red strai.ght” program for him.

But in the end, all that matters is that he’s safe at home. My sister is taking him to the pediatrician tomorrow who will hopefully recommend the therapy that we’ve been asking her to get. She is afraid that the therapist will say that there is something wrong with HER. Good Grief.

And on top of all that, I have a raging ear infection in both ears. I also have a hole in one eardrum which they hope will close on its own or I will have to have surgery. I spent all of Saturday afternoon in Coach’s bed being a big sore-earred baby. I can be a big ole whiner when I’m sick and I appreciated him taking good care of me.