Anonymous wrote:Perhaps you hovered too much. So far maybe bring a bit too proactive and involved? Back off let him make some mistakes and then see who he responds to your not making big deal about him having to learn from cute consequences. Also maybe he isn’t cut out to be so amazing. Harsh truth for some. Focus on making him get a job and not be on electronic devices. That’s all you can really do at this age. He will likely mature some this coming year or two but not if mommy is always telling him how to solve his problems ( we will tune that out) and not if he is always being treated like a problem to solve. Back off and. Lower expectations and he might surprise you. Also maybe help him find something that ties into any interest he does have? What are they? When he was 10 what did he like to do? Build things? Sports? Be outside? Read? What besides video games that you did not pick and schedule for him? Move from that and bring that back into his life. He doesn’t need to be able to verbalize what motivates him at this age, that is understandable for many kids his age. You might just be making him feel worse and less motivated by putting so much pressure on him to be able to verbalize and name his motivation.
OP, don’t follow this advice. You being asked to perform a different type of cuddling. Right now, just focus on helping him finish high school and move on from there. He can go to a local college afterwards allowing you time to figure out next steps. Don’t drive yourself crazy. Many of us have been as this is a common issue with mostly boys, at least half the boys that I know from similar backgrounds. Again, first, focus on getting him through HS graduation and don’t think beyond that right now.