Anyone who bothers to give you parenting advice and says something like “…it gets better as they get older and become more independant” is full of it. Seriously.
I would love to say I’ve raised two teenagers with good heads on their shoulders . . . and maybe that will come next year? But this year? They are nothing but walking vats of hormones, puberty and drama. Oh the drama!
When my daughter was a young toddler . . people would say “Oh she’s so cute - be careful with that one, you’ll have to beat ‘em off with a stick”… and then we’d laugh. I thought they were just being nice… I mean, who doesn’t want to hear that their kid is cute, eh?
She’s 15 now.
I’m beating them off with a stick.
(literally shoo’d two off them off my property at 1am in the morning the other night and told her to get her happy ass in the house…. “but Moooom.. they’re just friends and he had a bad fight with his dad and he just wanted to talk and…and..and..)
Trying to convince a teenage girl that the boys of her age don’t necessarily have her best interests at heart is not an easy thing. It was much easier, back in the day, when a gate across the stairway solved the problem! Give me a few outlet covers and cupboard locks - and we’re good!
And someone please explain this … “Mom - I’d like Ann to stay the whole weekend if that’s ok? Her parents kicked her out of the house and won’t let her back in.”
“Ann” (names changed to protect the innocent) is 15 years old.
This has happened three times in the last year with three different “Anns”
So, I say “You know, if you just wanted ‘Ann’ to stay the weekend, you could just ask instead of making up lame reasons why she should”
She says “No, seriously, Mom - she’s been kicked out. Call her mom and ask - as a matter of fact, her Mom would probably be relieved to hear from you so that she knows Ann is staying somewhere this weekend.”
Hmm.
I’m trying to think of a circumstance under which I would kick my 15 year old daughter out of the house and lock the door behind her…. then be relieved to hear that she’s staying at a friends house where she’s ’safe’. I’m trying….but can’t seem to come up with anything.
So now we’re, what? A safe haven for teenage kids whose parent have come to the conclusion that the solution to whatever the probem is, is to kick the kid out and hope that some other parent puts a roof over their head until the problem blows over?
I was never kicked out as a teenager… or ever for that matter. Were you? Why?
When faced with concepts such as teenagers and their love lives, learning how to drive, getting (and keeping!) that first job and the whole ‘what are your plans for the rest of your life’ question . . . I’m looking back on the days of diapers and drool with a wistful sigh.
Of course, you could be drawing the same conclusion that some of my well-meant friends and family have come to…. “Hmm..she’s newly married and longing for those baby days…”
Get it out of your head immdiately! Heh. I’m not the least bit interested in procreating. I may have been raised catholic - but I’ve long since abandoned the idea (hmm..say about 15 years ago). Rest assured you won’t be seeing any pregnancy counters on this website, at ANY time in the near future!
Sounds like we’re very similar in this...
8:57 pm on August 9th, 2006
I never quite understood the whole kick the kid out thing either. How the hell is that supposed to help them? Ah well, good luck with the kiddos…you’re a smart cookie and will totally make it through
7:00 pm on August 10th, 2006
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Bug - I wish I felt the way you said! lol
11:07 am on August 11th, 2006
I have a 19 year old daughter who is in love with her 19 year old boyfriend. He’s trying to get it together, has been in jail a couple of times. He has no license, she drives him to his job, then she has a job, finally. I worry that she is living for her boyfriend and not living for herself. Help!
9:42 pm on August 18th, 2006
None of my friends were kicked out that I know of, but my cousin’s boyfriend ended up moving in with them in high school when he was kicked out of his extremely messed up house. Sadly, he looked like he was going to turn his life around and get on the right track only to end up committing suicide in their house instead.
So cute, gonna have to sleep with one eye open… yeah, we’ve heard that one way too much. I’m thinking of combining the Martha Stewert ankle bracelet with some invisible fencing for when the Mite gets older. The thought of what he very well might be like in fifteen years is one of the things that makes me glad we live in the boonies. Hell, he’s two years old and already apparently has two or three girlfriends…
12:53 pm on August 19th, 2006
Astro - having one of each gender … my boy is 17, the girl is 15.. I can say that each brings a unique set of problems and issues. I’m not entirely sure why I don’t worry about the boy’s love life as much as I worry about the girl’s.
Am I being sexist? Am I discriminating in my own home?
Well, I have to be honest with myself on it - boys are different from girls.. I don’t care what the feminist movement will tell you. They are different.. emotionally, the way they mature, their priorities.. all different.
Plus - as a former teenage girl, I have insight into teenage boys that I only wish my daughter would listen to me about hahaha
And about your cousin’s boyfriend.. that is really sad.
Ya always gotta think how bad it must have been inside of his head to believe that was the only way out.
11:23 am on August 22nd, 2006
Well, hopefully we’re on the way to one of each soon. I’m sure you got all your insight from listening to your Mom’s insight on teenage boys too…
11:56 am on August 22nd, 2006
Ooooo another little astromite! Or astromitette, maybe. How exciting!! Getting there is half the fun, ya know
And MY mother’s insight into teenage boys? Ha. She met my father when she was 15.. her first boyfriend. She got pregnant and married him when she was 17. I don’t think she has much insight on teenage boys lol . . . but, I’ll bet she has some great advice on keeping a marriage together - - cuz my folks are still happily married and coming up on 47 years together
(uh, yea… I wasn’t the first child.. just so ya know. :p
12:30 pm on August 22nd, 2006
Yep, the clock fell off the wall and hit mrs. knight on the head again. Sadly we have to have the docs involved, but hopefully it goes a little smoother this time. New doc and sounds like some things have come along quite nicely in the last few years…
7:08 pm on August 29th, 2006
when I read your comments about the drama and teenage
girls. I realized I was not alone, I thought my 16 year
was the queen of drama. And the boyfriend is getting on
my last nerve.