Just now, as I was gritting my teeth about SS11 apparently bent on putting himself on the road to type 2 diabetes with his over the top breakfast, I made myself stop. Then I asked myself, why do I care? I've already made my concerns about his dietary habits known, even DH acknowledges that he's putting on chub in the "heart-attack zone" and he's only 11, and yet nothing changes. He's not fat...yet...but I can definitely see a time in the future when he hits 30 and his metabolism slows down, he'll put on a bunch of weight all of a sudden. Everyone will wonder what happened and it'll be all I can do NOT to say "I told you so" after allowing him to eat the way he does.

Same thing goes with SS13's "being bullied" problem at school...even though 99.5% of the time, he starts it. He's been getting lunch detentions apparently these days, and again I have to wonder, why do I care? In fact, because his mouth is SERIOUSLY out-of-control, I actually kind of hoped he'd be getting into trouble at school...after all, he wouldn't be getting lunch detention too if it was a one-way street. His problem is his mouth writes checks his butt can't cash, then he likes to cry about how he keeps getting beaten up at school.

I have to make myself remember that, in reality, I'm completely outnumbered when it comes to these damn kids. DH, in-laws, BM, her mom...they all just figure actually raising children in a way that gives them good habits (i.e. eating a balanced diet and not being jerks) is just too hard. BM herself has even said, "It's just easier to let them do whatever they want." They just have a different idea of how to raise kids than I do. Like just never reinforcing anything at all. I don't know, maybe it's because I'm not a mom myself, nor will I EVER be (by choice, not by chance), so maybe I just don't get it, like BM is so fond of saying (in spite of the fact that I've been working with kids for most of my life and have a Master's Degree in ECSE). I also have to remember that when I'm old, these kids will not be in charge of taking care of me, I'll leave that to the professionals at the home for that, so really, what to I care? What do I care if SS11 grows up to be morbidly obese with high cholesterol and diabetes? What do I care if SS13 grows up and can't hold a job because he keeps mouthing off to his bosses? They'll just blame everyone else for it anyway, since nothing is ever their fault or their responsibility. I've already told DH that when they're 18, they're on their own, so I'm done now, I've done all I can do to try and get these kids on-track.