Our Son Found Calm, and So Did We
Our son has always been… difficult, to put it lightly. He’s smart, no doubt about that, but for as long as I can remember, we’ve struggled with his defiance. It was like every day was a battle—he’d talk back, refuse to listen, and disrupt everything at home and at school. We’d get calls from his teachers constantly about how he couldn’t sit still or follow directions. He was failing classes, not because he didn’t understand the material, but because he just refused to engage. I started to feel like we were losing control, not just of him, but of our family. It was exhausting. We tried everything—therapy, behavior charts, punishments, rewards—but nothing seemed to get through to him.
When someone suggested we look into cannabis, I’ll admit, I was pretty skeptical. The idea of giving our son cannabis? It felt like too much. But at the same time, I felt like we were running out of options. I mean, we couldn’t keep going the way we were. So, I did some research and found Dr. Caplan. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I figured it was worth at least hearing what he had to say. When we met with him, Dr. Caplan was so calm, so understanding. He didn’t make us feel like we were bad parents, which, honestly, was a huge relief. We’d been feeling like failures for a long time. He explained that cannabis, in the right doses, might help our son relax, become more receptive, and just… chill out.
At first, I wasn’t sure. But we decided to give it a shot because we needed something to change. I remember the first few weeks—we were waiting for a miracle that didn’t come right away. But slowly, things started to shift. He wasn’t perfect, and I didn’t expect him to be, but we started seeing moments of calm, of compliance. He’d sit down and actually listen when we talked to him. His teachers noticed, too. The calls home weren’t as frequent, and when they did call, it wasn’t about him disrupting the class, but little moments where he was making an effort. He wasn’t fighting us over every single thing anymore. He even started being more responsible around the house—little things like cleaning up after himself, finishing homework without a meltdown.
It wasn’t an overnight transformation, but it was enough to make us believe that maybe—just maybe—things could get better. And they have. Our son is still a work in progress, but aren’t we all? He’s more in control now, more aware of his actions. I can’t tell you what a relief it is to have peace in our home again, even if it’s not perfect all the time. We can breathe. We can plan things without the constant fear of a blow-up. Dr. Caplan gave us the space to feel like parents again, instead of just referees in constant battles.
– Heather R.
