Okay everyone - I have a question about soemthing...
Matthew (my 12 year old DS) had a picnic to go to last night for soccer. Only he and I went because DH was working and the other two boys jsut didn't feel like going. It was about 1/2 an hour from our house and about half way there Matthew got very quiet. Then when we got there he said, "Mom, I'm car sick. Can we go back home." I told him we'd just sit in the truck for a few minutes and see if he felt better. Then he started crying and said he didn't want to go! He ended up having what I would call an anxiety attack and sobbing! I talked to him and he calmed down but he still didn't want to go. We could see the back yard from the truck and the kids were kicking a soccer ball and jumping on a trampoline and it looked like they were having a lot of fun. I asked him if he wanted to quit the soccer team and he said no, that he just didn't want to go to the picnic. I got out of the truck and went to talk to the coach and the mom that was hosting the picnic, only telling them that Matthew was car sick. While I was talking to the mom, the coach came over and talked to Matthew and all he told the coach was that he was car sick. Then the mom came out to the truck and asked him if he felt well enough to come in and sign something for the coach. We went in through the front door to avoid the other kids, Matthew signed it and then he asked if we could go home. I made our apologies and then we left.
After we left I asked him if he felt well enough for me to drive by a house that is for sale. Friends of ours are looking for a house and I told them I'd take a drive by it to see if it was worth their time to come out to see. We drove around these mountain roads for an hour and a half looking for different houses for sale - and Matthew never got car sick again.
So....what do you guys think?? Should I have forced him to go or did I do the right thing by doing what he asked? We went through a big anxiety issue, especially seperation anxiety, after 9/11 and even getting him to play on a soccer team then was a miracle. But we haven't had any of those issues for quite a while. Now that he's a little older I'm just not sure if I did the right thing by letting him avoid the situation that made him anxious.
Thanks!
