Anger Management

At the encouragement of her Behavioral Therapist, I signed Claire up for an anger management class through our insurance. It is a four week class, and tonight was her first class.

The class is geared for 6-12 year olds. Expecting Claire to be the youngest, I was surprised that there were several other 6 year olds in the class. Apparently we are not the only parents dealing with an explosive child.

While I don't love the demeanor and teaching style of the leader of the class, the material is pretty good, and Claire and I were able to talk about some issues that she is having which was helpful. She also drew her picture of an Angry Monster:

I am grateful for this class. I think this is a class that Claire needs- as do we as parents. And I certainly don't want to minimize what we are going through with Claire- it is a tough road with this child. But, while sitting in the class, I realized that it could be A LOT worse. There was one boy who said he gets angry "when Caleb and Kevin tell me they are going to kill me with their dads sword" or "when the boys at recess threaten to kill me." Or the two kids who just sat in stony silence the entire class- just looking straight ahead with the angriest faces I have ever seen on such small children.

Hopefully this class will prove helpful. I am also reading a book called "The Explosive Child" which is really helpful. At least I do know that Claire knows that she is loved and that we will try and get her whatever help that she needs to figure out her feelings in an appropriate way. Most of the time she is happy, but when she is not- she is not! It's tough, but hopefully we can get it figured out and give her the tools that she needs to calm herself down and behave in acceptable ways even if she is angry.