He is less happy

I'm not sure what it is, and I am trying to just let him be. I really don't want to make him feel like he is supposed to be cheerful. It is okay to feel sad. Still, it is difficult not to want to cheer him up.

He was happier this summer. Normally I insist that though we parents "honeymoon" the kids don't. The kids don't come into our houses with some sense of euphoria. They generally come in on their very best behavior while closely observing with some level of anxiety. They are not relaxed.

In rhetrospect Gary seemed happier then.

He was thrilled to be out of the group home, he had a idol-worship thing going on with Evan, and he was hopeful that his father was going to make a home for him. He had a cell phone and called his dad every other week. He had a bus pass and visited friends every other day or so. He went on fun vacations. He reveled in being "spoiled."

Then his dad decided to patch things up with stepmom, which meant no chance of moving in with dad. That was okay, he claimed, because he never really thought it was going to happen anyway.

Then school turned out to be more stressful than expected. It is a little unclear exactly what was going on, except that whatever it was was definitely trigger anxiety in him.

Then his father's cell phone number was disconnected. He did not hear from his dad for weeks, and then got a call on his birthday. He was pretty angry about being so totally cut off and they quareled. I'm pretty sure they haven't spoken since.

Now he is in a school he likes better, although he is stressed about the amount of homework he has to do in order to catch up.

There is all sorts of girl-friend-related drama.

I wish I could do something that would make him feel better, but I don't think there is, except to be here while he works through it all.