[Breeze]

General Update - Brett

This thread was initially created to record the kid's progress as year round swimmers, but it became obvious pretty early on that swimming is more than simply being in the pool. Due to the dedication required, it is in many respects a lifestyle that is impacted by numerous external forces. I've hinted at a few and even documented items on occasion when I felt the situation might require it. Unfortunately, I'm at a situation right now that is heavily impacting the family.

Brett is really struggling in school right now. The wife and I are extremely concerned and we aren't exactly sure what the underlying problem is. His study habits have never been strong, due to the fact he could get good grades without putting forth too much effort. But now, he's seems almost incapable of studying. He's aware his grades are slipping, and he goes to study, only for us to find him distracted wasting time on the Internet.

I am extremely frustrated, and I've been hard on him (quite honestly, probably too hard), but at the same time I feel bad for him. He's a young 10th grader (would be in 9th if I had my way), who is taking senior level Math at an accellerated rate, he's in advanced Chemestry (which he isn't crazy about) and he's fighting to get through German 2, all while swimming 16+ hours a week. He has little to no free time, and he's constantly tired, but his schedule requires that kind of commitment. He absolutely doesn't want to stop swimming, and I don't want him too, as it is his lone sport and his basis for a social life, but I'm struggling with what to do. I've gone so far as to look into the possiblity of pulling him out of school and letting him retake 10th grade next year.

To make matters worse, I'm not sure if the problem is a "want to" or "can't help it". If you've been reading along for a while, you know that Brett is probably the single most obstinate person I've ever met, and he's also likely the most ADHD person I've ever laid eyes on. This makes it difficult to determine if the problems are focus related or desire related. We've talked with his doctor and we are going to use Intuniv in the evenings to see if that helps. The doctor doesn't believe increasing his vyvance is going to help. We are also keeping an eye on depression and sleep disorders (which you'd think we could determine from asking Brett, but so far he hasn't been forthcoming on that front).

This situation is currently killing me emotionally and quite literally physically (as my blood pressure has probably increased significantly). There is part of me that understands that I should back off and let him flounder to learn his lesson, but that would destroy his GPA and probably eliminate any hope he has of swimming in college (no JUCOs in the area have swim teams). Right now I'm trying to balance helping him get through this (whatever "this" is) while not destroying our relationship moving forward. This is unquestionably the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with in my life...