I finally got through to one of them!

Today was a very bizarre day on the unit, but a very good one nonetheless. Lots of aggression aimed primarily at staff...but I guess that comes with the job.

I've been working with this one little guy for about a week now. He's very shy, but opened up to me pretty quickly. I think the thing that has him down the most is his father's drinking. I know it gets to him, but he's too afraid to tell his dad anything. Well today (after a week) I got him to confront dad about his drinking and tell him how he feels. He actually did it! I was so proud of him. Dad broke down, and I think some progress will be made now.

I related alot to this kid. My father is an alcoholic. I felt like he wasn't there for me very much as a child, at least, we didn't do the things that dad and son typically do together..which I guess is ok, because I became a bookworm as a result of that :p There were and still are times where I feel like the adult and he is the child. This little guy felt the same way. I've confronted my dad before and it solved the problem for a little while, and then he went back to it. This kid's dad will probably do the same thing, but at least he got over his initial fear of talking to his dad. Me and my dad get along fine now, but I'd say it's more of a friendship than a parent/child relationship. But that's better than nothing. I hope this boy makes some progress. It feels good to know I made a little bit of a difference in a kids life.

He also refuses to eat anything but chicken! I think that we've found that this is sort of a trust issue for him. He won't eat chicken if someone other than his parents cook it. Well today I got him to eat a banana at lunch and though that's not much, it's something new. And he liked it! Aside from that, he's eaten nothing but cereal since he's gotten on the unit and has lost about 5 pounds already. Hopefully we can start pumping him with at least bananas now if not some more "new stuff".

All in all, a rewarding day!