Last weekend one of the dogs got out while the kids were in the front yard. Not recognizing the dog, a neighbor a few doors down threw a bike at it to chase it away from his screaming little kids. While this dog is relatively small and entirely friendly, he had no way of knowing that and did what he thought he needed to do to keep an unfamiliar animal away from his small children.
Our kids witnessed this episode and Sparky came to tattle but Squeaker FREAKED out. By the time Ana got out there, she was yelling and screaming and refused to return to the house when Ana told her to. By the time I got out there she was sullen and defiant making rude and disrespectful comments about the neighbor and Ana for not caring about the dog (who was completely unscathed and unfazed by all the commotion).
Squeaker lost front yard privileges and a pair of shoes (another story) for two days.
Yesterday, the neighbor came over to explain and apologize and make sure there were no hard feelings. Ana assured him she completely understood and apologized for our kid's appalling behavior.
Apparently while Ana was retrieving the dog, Squeaker continued to stand in front their house screaming profanities and making obscene gestures.
I told her today that she's lucky that the neighbor is a nice guy and didn't throw a bike at her for harassing his family.
Now she can only be outside when an adult is there to supervise. We have a lot more years of this. I wish someone could help find that line in her brain where emotional immaturity ends and mental illness begins. I don't have a lot of information on her specific condition right now but I ask every professional I have access to how much improvement we can actually expect especially during the teen years.
Makes me think of Jack Nicholson in the psychiatrist's office saying "What if this is as good as it gets?" I hope not.
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