Teenager in the house

Oh Lord, grant me patience and understanding. Lots of it…and quickly!

Puppy just turned thirteen (13) years old four days ago. Already he’s acting like a teenager.

Surely I was never like this as a teenager (laughing). At least I can promise that I never raised my voice to either one of my parents. It was an unwritten rule; respect your parents and all elders.

I don’t want to blame the switch in his medications, because he has been better and the negative behaviors I was witnessing before the change to the new medicine are basically gone.

But these days Puppy is dealing with one of his obsessions, and not in a good way. Has anyone else had this problem with their child? They want something so badly that it consumes them completely. He has had this (subject) on mind since he was nine (9) years old. He saw it, smelled it, touched it and can’t let it go. He does have breaks from it that can range from a week to 2 months, or as much as 6 months that go by where he doesn’t mention it or want it. But whenever he starts up, it’s a whole other ball game. It goes from one extreme to another.

So anyway, for the last couple of weeks Puppy has been making boxes that resemble his obsession-- cigarettes. There, I said it. I think the smell of the cigarettes is intense for his sensitive senses. I think the fire also got his attention. No matter how many times I explain to him the dangers, he isn’t in a place where he can understand the consequences of him smoking, or even pretending. I actually have a neighbor down the street who is a police officer. He came to my door one day to let me know that my son was smoking. I had to get the box Puppy had made with the rolled up pieces of paper to show him it was not the real thing. It took a little explaining before he realized the truth to the situation.

My responsibility is to make every effort to protect as well as teach Puppy as much as I can, but it is a immense challenge to just try to get his undivided attention for as long as necessary to explain to him this danger of pretending to carry and smoke cigarettes. Every time he makes a box, I take it when he isn’t aware he left it unguarded. But he goes right back to make another one. I’m bright enough to make sure we don’t have the products in the home to make one, but because he’s still new to the daycare personnel, they think he’s doing cut-and-paste. They are even surprised at the talent to make these boxes, which he now calls sparkler boxes. One teacher even told him that if they are colored they won’t look like cigarettes, so that was okay. Well, he spends time coloring his box with hearts, fireworks, and the word sparklers all around. He feels that is enough of a disguise to satisfy any adult.

Presently, Puppy’s tantrums are all derived from lectures he gets from others and me, the disappearance of his boxes and lack of products to make more boxes with rolled up papers. But on a good note, we are actually on day two of no boxes since the last box magically disappeared. Whew, finally a break. I just wonder how long this break will last before he starts again.

I am open for any advice or suggestions on how to handle this problem. The more I know the better.