At least I have the energy to stay awake for most of the day now. A day that I plan to spend on very little that's productive in a meaningful way.
So you get a story out of me and then I vanish into Minecraft to maybe finish the sorting system in my personal world.
Later on in the day, we'll gather around a warm TV set to watch Doctor Who and maybe catch up on Steven Universe. If our downloading system deigns to share.
Just a perfect day of nothing much to do.
Mayhem is learning -slowly- that games are for AFTER doing the work. It's a work in progress and I already had to catch him out at playing before working.
I might do up lists of three tasks per login. I might just go with whatever needs doing the most. Either way, Mayhem needs a solid boundary of work and play just to make it through school.
After that, his life is down to his choices. Maybe he'll REALLY learn at that point. Maybe not.
I worry about that kid.
Chaos will always have a network. A system of people to help her out with whatever. Mayhem, like me, is bright enough to pass for normal and therefore slip through the cracks when the stumbling blocks appear. And worse, he seems to lack the bloody-minded determination that got me through every single hard patch thrown in my way.
But in the end, his problems are his problems. Paying the bills and all of that noise will be his trials to face. Not mine.
Thinking of it that way is really difficult. I still vividly remember when he was a helpless little creature that fit in the crook of my arms and needed us for everything. But I have to make myself do that. Or I create yet another entitled man-child that the world does NOT need.
Tough love sucks.