Danielle Explodes Violently

This morning, I find myself sitting at my desk, emotionally and physically exhausted.  I am discouraged beyond measure.

Yesterday, Danielle exploded.  By the close of the afternoon, she had called us every foul-mouthed, disgusting name in the book, broken her bedroom door such that it would no longer close, knocked the screen out of her bedroom window, cracked her wood bed frame, left a bruise on my wrist, and  threatened us with a pair of scissors.

The trigger?  We asked Danielle to help out with a couple of small chores before she went off to spend the night with a friend.  Although the chores got done, her attitude sucked, and she spent more than an hour calling us ugly names.  I finally got tired of the disrespect, and when I calmly went to speak to Danielle about it, she unleashed another foul-mouthed rant.

I was sick of it, so I asked for her MP3 player.

This is the brand-new device we had just bought her for her birthday three months ago.  She claimed she didn't have it and that it was in some girl's locker at school.

We have had more than one discussion about our expectation that Danielle not give her electronics to her friends, so we grounded her for the day and canceled her sleepover.

Danielle chose to use that as an opportunity to rage.

We called for help.  The response we got was far less than what I think we should have received.  I truly believe this kid needs to be in a hospital, group home, or residential treatment setting.

Although the explosion may be over for Danielle, the emotional aftermath of all of this is not over for me.  The acidic aftershock of too much adrenaline is still running through my veins.  I am frightened and I am angry.

No family should have to live this way.