Crush vs. Umbrella

When I played football in high school, we had several defensive formations. One of them was 4-4 where we had 4 down lineman (2 tackles and 2 ends), and 4 linebackers (2 inside, 2 outside). One of the calls we had was called Crush. This was essentially an all-out blitz where all the backers rushed the gaps and tried to kill the unlucky soul carrying the ball.

The other call was Umbrella. We used this call when it was 3rd and a mile or when we were up big late in the game. This was basically a prevent defense that let the offense have anything short but not give up a big play. Keep everything in front of you but don't get beat deep.

Right now, I'm trying to decide which play to run on Miss S. On the one hand, there's plenty of things to work on (crush play). On the other hand, so many of the issues are issues we'd dealt with when they first came to us. Now they're coming back full circle. And with their return to their mom coming within weeks, I'm wondering what the point is. Maybe I should just focus on keeping her under control instead of working on every issue (umbrella).

All I know is that the back-and-forth with her is exhausting. She knows exactly what she's doing. She's trying to get a reaction. But why? Does she want to be punished? I want to give her attention but not the negative kind. And now that she's lying again, I don't even want to talk to her.

Lil C is the one I feel really sorry for. He doesn't know any better. All he's doing is watching his mom and big sister and repeating what he sees. Poor kid. I don't know what else to say. I'd like to put a nice ribbon on this but I'm just frustrated. I'd like to speed up this process and just have the kids go home if we have more of the same to look forward to.

The one thing I know for sure is that I need to keep praying. For Miss S, for Lil C, and for their mom especially. They need to know Jesus. I guess that would be the best ribbon of all.