My grandson Tyler was born 3 yrs ago last month.  From the very beginning he had problems, he was born early, during the last month of pregnancy his mom was on anxiety medications prescribed by her dr while she was on bed rest.  When Tyler was born it was days before he even opened his eyes.  He was drugged up by all the meds.  Even for the first couple of months he only opened his eyes at the most 6 times.  My son was 19 and Misty (Tyler's Mom) was 17 when the two of them got together and decided they wanted to have a baby.....neither one of them finished school or had a job at the time.....they did not have a place of their own.  As a matter of fact I had never even met her.  It wasn't until she got pregnant that I got a phone call from my son telling me I was going to be a grandma......and could they come live with us?  What could I say, the deed was done?  They lived with us during the whole pregnancy and Tyler was born and they they decided to get married.  For about the first three months after Tyler was born things went pretty well.  They then decided to get a place of their own and that's when things turned ugly.  When Tyler was 6 months old , Misty took Tyler and moved back to where she grew up.  For the next year and a half I saw him very little, they moved about 600 miles from me.  My son soon moved back there as well but they never got back together.  January of 2006 my son talked her into moving her and the baby back in with us.  August of 2006 she decided to join the Army to make a life for her and the baby.  She left in August and we kept Tyler for 9 months while she was going through training.  Tyler was 2, confussed, angry, unsure of what was happening.  I had to put him in Daycare because we both worked full time jobs.  Daycare was difficult for him, he was use to no rules, no schedules.  Had they not felt sorry for me I'm sure they would of kicked him out.....he would bite the other kids, he would hit them, kick them, hit his head up against the wall, scream out and would not mind.  I called early childhood intervention to see if maybe he was autistic or something else was wrong.....with the exception of being about 6 months behind he was fine....according to them.  I got him on a bedtime schedule, things were starting to get better, but honestly I dreaded life......I wasn't ready to take this on....I had raised my kids, I was only remarried for 3 yrs and I wanted my life to be mine.  I didn't want to raise my grandchildren...I enjoyed being "NANA".  I couldn't wait for her to take him back.....I felt like I had failed and did not see things getting better.......well in April of 07 my wish came true.  She was stationed in Ft Polk, LA which was only 2.5 hrs from us and she had housing and she wanted her baby back......I was excited but dreadful at the same time.....I feared for his well being and I missed him terribly......We went up there as often as we could and encouraged her to come home on weekends.  About July I could tell by her actions things werern't going well for her.  We were having to buy groceries for her and the baby because she would spend her money on men she had met in the army.  She called me up and told me she did not have the money for Tyler's 3rd birthday Party and would I have it at my house and pay for it.  Of course I did this.  My husband and I had talked and decided we were going to ask her if she needed us to take Tyler again but before we could ask her she called and asked me to take him.  Without hesitation we did.  This time it's different........I'm ready to be a mom......I'm ready for the challenges he throws our way.  We have had him back for a month now and things are tough......he still has his bad days when he throws himself in the floor and pitches a fit.....he will spit in school and kick and scream and tries to stay up until 10 or 11 at night, but i'm ready for this......we give him lots of love and reward him for good behavier....his new school is awesome and they understand and are working with us and rewarding him as well....I now look forward to going home and getting all those hugs and kisses, giving him his baths and praying with him before bedtime.....sure we have our moments, but i've come to realize this baby didn't ask to come into this world and he sure didn't ask to b given the hand he was dealt....so all we can do is love him and protect him........after all I have two other grandsons and granddaughters that I can spoil and send home to mommy.......