Welcome to the rollercoaster...

Up we go... woosh! Down we go... lurch! Then up again... And all the time feeling sick to the pit of our stomachs about what's going to happen next. This week sure is turning out to be a rollercoaster, but - thus far - both Ben and I have managed to keep Ben hanging on in there and on track. From what I can see from the pics someone's posted on his FB page, yesterday afternoon was a 'high' on the rollercoaster stakes. Let's  hope things stay up there for a while... or longer...


I am so very proud of my son. Despite the mega blip yesterday morning which risked effing up everything, he and I worked to get him back on track, to package the incident in a box, put it on a shelf, and move on. Because we weren't going to let some w*nkers who were set on destroying my son's happiness and security through cyber-crime to eff up the rest of his life.

Or, rather, as a very good friend of mine said a moment ago: "Bin it altogether: into the incinerator with that hiccup. Over, done and gone."

When I left Ben yesterday lunchtime I was hoping he would go on the Treasure Hunt in the afternoon, starting in his student residences and exploring the neighbourhood. He did. And from the photos on his FB page he had fun, doing strange things in a small team with lemons across the S10 area of Sheffield!

So far I don't know how the quiz night went last night. And tonight is a comedy night at a venue a little further afield. (Will he realise he needs a ticket to get in? I'm keeping a low profile and leaving this up to him.)

What all these events have in common is that they are specifically aimed at those young people who find the booze / party / disco culture a bore and who, maybe, find it harder to fit in and make friends for whatever reason - and for students who live at home, in Sheffield, and therefore don't benefit from the flat-mates culture of student residences.

All these events are cleverly designed to get like-minded people together so, even if you don't make life-long friends, at least you recognise a familiar face next time you see it. And I notice that the other team members from yesterday's treasure hunt are now friends on his FB page, which is good news.

But I know it is bloody hard for Ben. The toughest thing he's done since fighting the eating disorder, especially since he has only recently started to gingerly test the water again socially. He really is undergoing a baptism of fire this week!

And, so far, he has stayed the course. I, personally, have no intention of allowing him to quit - unless the eating disorder rears its ugly head again.

I wish I didn't have this worry as well, but - with  Ben's history of anorexia - I have.

And, please God, no phone call today...

Well, at least not 'that' kind of phone call.