Ever had a child with significant special needs? One who is much bigger and stronger than you are, with little to no self control? If you have, feel free to offer suggestions. If you have not walked there, IMHO, I'd stick to supportive prayer. Prayers and hugs to the OP...perhaps you should speak to your doctor about some kind of temporary mediation that could help reduce his sensory load while he is in the brace. That would be a HUGE destabilizer if it happened around here! Even something as simple as GABA might help.

Fantastic news! Yeah for you!

Praying!!

Yep, definitely. I have PMDD. It really helps to have Prozac on board those days!!

My 80 year old house with brick and plaster walls is a real blessing! Cool stays in during the summer, heat stays in during the winter. We need to insulate the basement but the walls have blown in insulation. A previous owner took off the baseboards, blew in the insulation and replaced the baseboards with larger ones. It made a big difference, without removing the walls altogether. I like my plaster walls!

I am following this thread with interest...thanks so much for starting it! I can't grow much here due to heavy shade and even heavier squirrel carnage, but we have a wonderful, robust farmer's market and I have a share in a great organic CSA. Planning to start canning small scale this year and see if it works out for me. I already have a Fagor pressure cooker, so I ordered the add on kit to make it a canner and I've ordered some of the items you all suggested here. I'm sure if I get into it, in the next year or two I will have to order larger equipment, but for now, I should be good. Thank you, thank you for getting me started!!

Congratulations!! Twins are awesome! My 6 lb boys will be 10 in about a week!

Poor thing! Hugs and prayers!!

Praying!

Yum, yum, yum!!! Definitely going to try this!! Thanks for posting!

BTDT...so sorry, I know how painful it is to watch. Honestly, having BTDT and got the T-shirt, I would tell him exactly what you said here...quote yourself if necessary. You hit all the high points in these two sentences!! I'd tell him that grownups who live in the real world get tossed out on their *ss when they act like that, and that is exactly what will happen to him when he turns 18 unless he REALLY grows up and starts acting maturely in the next few months. Then, I'd do exactly that. Trust me, it will be harder on you than it is on him! He'll go to the homeless shelter, camp on a friend's couch, and find someone else to bum off of until they get as sick of his attitude as you did. Then, he'll get tossed again and or fired from a job or two for his attitude, and maybe he'll start realizing that he isn't quite such a special little angel after all. Then, perhaps, he'll start coming to you for advice and maybe considering going back to school. Then, if you are even luckier, you'll wake up one day and realize that somehow he became the man you hoped he would be, and even better...he thanks you for it! Yep, that really happened...toughest thing we ever did, but our special little angel is a really good man now and an even better Daddy! ;) Grandparenting is awesome and SO much easier than he ever was! You will be okay, says the T-shirt bearing Grandma. Hang in there!

Love it! Thanks for posting.

So sweet!!

We've been there, too, Wendy. I wish I could have higher hopes, but we've had him released quickly before. He has dug himself a very deep hole this time, so I am hoping they will keep him but we are preparing for him to walk right back out the door. One plus in our favor is that when BIL is stable, he tends to stay stable for a long time. If we can actually get him stabilized before something happens to him, perhaps there is a chance.

If you don't know the history, it is here: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/448978-getting-a-mental-illness-warrant-for-my-bilprayers-needed/ After a big old mess of drama, police cars, sheriffs and a $160 cab fare, we managed to corner my mentally ill BIL and take him to the psych emergency room on the warrant last night. We have no control over what happens from here...best case scenario, he will stay in the state hospital for a while; worst case scenario, he is back on the streets tonight at around 10:00 pm. However, we have done everything in our power to offer him help at this point and now we have to leave it in God's hands. Thank you to everyone who prayed for us...it means so much! It is a difficult situation and it is comforting to know I can come here and vent away, knowing that people will pray. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Since he was last seen on foot near my inlaw's home and he is a known threat to them, the local police have agreed to search for him and try to find a reason to hold him long enough for the sheriffs to come pick him up on the mental illness warrant. They cannot keep him legally unless he does something (mouthing off is, apparently, not enough!) but they can hold him long enough for the civil warrant to be executed. Blah. It is a wonder anyone ever gets mental health care in this country. I feel for those families whose mentally ill family member actually does something awful and everyone says, "why didn't they get him some help?" This, my friends, is why! It is possible that we could go through all this and a doctor could decide after 24 hrs to release him. Praying that doesn't happen, but it is a possibility. I think he looks bad enough that they will keep him, but it isn't up to me. Please keep up the prayers! They are very encouraging and I know God is listening.

Praise God, we got the warrant this morning! Thank you so much for your prayers...this was a big hurdle and your prayers clearly made a difference! Unfortunately, they've run into a snag and cannot serve the warrant at the moment! :( . BIL apparently trashed a room at the motel and was kicked out today, even though we told them we'd have the warrant served by the end of the day. Grrr. He left in a cab (with no money to pay the fare) and we don't know where he is right now. Shouldn't take too long to find him, though, because he will probably start calling for money to pay the fare or for a new hotel. The worst thing about today is that my inlaws were informed by the court that THEY have to locate BIL, THEY have to contact the sheriff when he is in their physical sight and they must be present at the arrest both to identify him and to let the officer have access to wherever he is staying. If he will not open the door, they will not serve the warrant. This stinks...we have clearly demonstrated that he is a danger...why would you make my inlaws hang out with him?!?! I cannot believe this, but that is the way it is. My inlaws are waiting to hear from him so they can offer to set him up in a new hotel room and thus corral him long enough to get him arrested. Please keep praying, just a bit longer!!

I'd love to be there Monday, but they will be okay. The warrant process is actually easy since I laid all the groundwork and should only take a few minutes. It should be a relief to them so long as the social worker is a decent one and agrees to take the warrant to the judge. Sadly, this is not their first go-round with hospitalization or arrest for BIL, and this is likely one of the lower stress things they have had to do. The only wildcard is whether we have enough evidence there to convince the screening social worker. The best plan for me is to wait and see if the warrant gets issued and he is held over more than 24 hours. If he is held, then I can hustle on down there and help them with the hard work of getting moved quickly. That I plan to do for sure! I'll post again after court and let you all know how it goes! I should know by noon tomorrow.

I Pm'd you....

Thanks again, everyone. Since posting, we've been able to talk to some wonderful ladies who help with estate sales and moving the elderly, so that's a great step. If we are able to get the warrant Monday morning, I feel pretty confident that we have found some folks that MIL can feel comfortable with to help her move!! The big deal is going to be Monday morning. If I have not made my "case" well enough on paper and if MIL or FIL "waffle" at the court offices regarding whether or not he is a threat (it is exceedingly hard to walk in and tell a stranger that your own son is violent and dangerous! They always want to give him the benefit of the doubt), we will not get the warrant. The courts are generally more concerned about violating the rights of the mentally ill to refuse treatment, so the burden of proof is pretty high. We are only talking about a 24 hr hold for evaluation (during which it will be impossible to miss how sick he is!), so I am hopeful that the political climate in the wake of recent shootings will sway things our way. Please keep praying through Monday!! Court Monday between 8-11, then hopefully he will be picked up and hospitalized by Monday night.

Patty Joanna, great minds think alike!! I am waiting on a callback from one such service right now! I expect to hear from three more that I left messages with by Monday. I am trying to pre-screen them to help out MIL. I am SO thrilled to hear about how fast they are able to perform their duties! Once they get past the warrant on Monday morning, we need to hurry up and get them moved. MIL seems ready to go, but is overwhelmed,,,FIL drags his feet a bit and is not much help. Thanks so much to everyone for the hugs and prayers!!! So encouraging!!

UPDATE IN POST #33- thanks for praying! Keep it up, just a bit longer!! My 56 yr old BIL has a severe, long term mental illness with multiple hospitalizations and arrests and also uses drugs when he invariably goes off his medication...which he has done once again. My aging inlaws, in their early 80s, can no longer care for him as he is violent and threatening towards them and they are themselves in need of care. BIL is currently off on a bender that is putting his life and the life of everyone around him at risk, so as a former mental health social worker, I am walking them through the process of getting him arrested on a mental health warrant. I spent the day writing out their testimony for them, as the situation is complicated and they are stressed to the max right now. The paperwork is solid, but still....would you all please pray with me that the court agrees to issue the warrant on Monday morning? Without it, I think BIL may be dead within the month...or someone else might be. You'd think it would be common sense that we could get a warrant in this case, but ya never know...mental health laws suck and I don't want to see another Newtown happen on my watch! I exaggerate not...this guy is capable of it when he is delusional and manic. He is very ill. Also, if you are praying, please pray that we can make the many arrangements necessary to get my inlaws moved out of their lifetime home and into a retirement home before BIL gets out and comes to find them once again. They are across the country, so we are doing all this long distance...so very hard. Thanks...really, I covet all the prayers we can get right now! Only God can fix this situation and I know He hears us when we pray together!!

Aw, hon, I am so sorry...and I can totally relate! Don't waste your energy on them today...go read a book or otherwise relax and leave the messy to fend for themselves for a while. Hugs!!

I spoke to Astrid in a pm and she sounded good. Hope she will chime in here when she gets a chance!

Praying!