Post
by felinefan » Sun Apr 11, 2010 6:05 pm
Some kids are like that--they don't adapt well to new situations, like a family when they're used to the humdrum, regimented life of an orphanage or foster care situation. Or they just have issues--they are traumatized from being without parents, or not being "normal" by not having a real family.
I once read of a brother and sister who were orphaned during the London Blitz, and they were in an orphanage before being adopted. The boy, about a year or two older than his sister, was cheerful and well-adjusted; the girl kept rubbing her eyes, but never cried. She was depressed and sad. Months later, she revealed why she kept rubbing her eyes: in the orphanage, a well-meaning but harsh matron told her to stop crying, to accept the fact that her parents were dead and weren't coming back. She was told crying wouldn't bring Mum and Dad back, so she had to stop and was threatened with punishment if she was caught crying. To keep from crying she rubbed her eyes almost constantly. Her adoptive parents were quite sympathetic and told her to go ahead and cry, it was okay to grieve and mourn. Her brother had accepted his loss and moved on, but she hadn't. After making use of her permitted grief period, the sister was able to move on as well. I think the boy was 6 and his sister was 4.
Edgar Allan Poe was adopted, and he didn't get along with his adoptive father, who was a friend of his parents. He became an alcoholic and a ne'er-do-well just to embarrass his adoptive father. Genius poet and writer, but unfortunately self-destructive.
Maybe even will lose custody of her biological son-seems like she may be the one with mental issues.
