Last year Sterling and I lost our minds. We felt like Athena needs serious therapy and help because of her extreme mischievousness and lack of learning /growing to become a better person.
With time I started to feel that there is still hope. I was a mischievous child at her age. I really was!
Then moving to America and visiting family I was stressing, as usual, about Athena's behavior. I decided again that she is okay and will grow out of her bad behavior. I reminded myself how I was at her age.
It's not that Athena is evil or tries to be bad. She simply ends up doing bad things without thinking. Just like Dennis the Menace or The Problem Child (1990 film).
Examples: At my parents house in NV Athena was unkind to Kitty, the cat. I warned Athena not to harm or tease too extremely the cat or Athena would be grounded from the cat. Despite her love of spending time with the cat she could not keep herself from hurting or pushing too far Kitty. So, twice she got grounded from the cat. She also proved she is not mature enough for a hamster or any pet of her own. Which is really sad because for four years we've been telling her "Once we move back to America you cant get a pet of your own."
Example 2) In Provo Athena went into someone's house without asking her parents. Ster and I were on a date. Athena's grandma Roundy went on a walk. Athena, age 9 and a half, was outside playing when the LDS next door neighbors invited her into their house. Why they did that is still unclear. But they gave her crafts to do and called Denise to let her know. Athena knows better than to go into people's houses!
We scolded her and talked to her about the danger of doing that.
Two nights ago Athena couldn't sleep. She said it really felt like there was a snake in her bed. We thought she was just imagining it because she had been watching too many snake hatching videos lately. I did wonder "Could she have brought a garder snake in the house today and it got away from her?"
Then today I was making dinner when I looked over and saw a snake slithering to the computer! I picked it up and put it outside. Sterling talked to Athena right away and got the truth out of her. She had brought two snakes into the house in her jacket sleeves and then let them onto the living room carpet. They slithered under the couches and Athena told no one. She didn't mean to let them get away.
But Sterling had caught her earlier that day trying to take them into the house and he told her that isn't okay. Then she did it anyway! And that is why she was afraid when she went to bed that night. It may or may not have been the snake in her bed.
But once we knew there was still a snake in the house we all went to searching. Ster upturned the couches , moved the piano, the tv and more. We moved the fridge. We searched all over. Grandma hates snakes! She can't handle them! So of course they found snake poop by her bedroom closet.Luckily they found the second snake ...under grandpa's shoe in their bedroom closet!
Athena is no longer allowed to watch videos about snakes. And she is no longer trusted to play outside without supervision. She has to be babysit like a toddler because, like a toddler, she can't be trusted.
Sterling and I are so stressed out at Athena's behavior. Ster thinks , once again, that she needs therapy and maybe medication. It just reminds me of the movie The Problem Child. I watched that movie when I was a teenager and felt bad that the child accidentally was a bad kid all the time. Athena is like that.
We don't know what to do. We just keep trying to teach her to be better, praying for help and crying.
