Parents and Counseling

The counselor at my school told me an interesting story today that I wanted to share with ya'll.  Once a parent wanted her to meet with her child, because his father was dying of terminal cancer.  The little boy lived with the mother and visited the sick father on alternate weekends.  The mother didn't want the little boy to continue to see his father and she told the counselor that the boy was in great distress about seeing his father in that state.  So, the counselor met with the little boy and asked him if he was looking forward to visiting his father that weekend.  The little boy said he was excited and couldn't wait to see his dad.  When the counselor told the mother that she didn't observe any negative feelings on the boy's part, the mother was furious with her.  The counselor was led to believe that the scenario was really about the mother wanting to manipulate the counselor to get what she wanted instead of what the real truth was.  Her lesson to me was to be cautious in believing everything parents say when they want you to meet with their children.  They may just be misguided or they may be trying to manipulate someone or something.  We deal with all types of people.