"If you have never been hated by your child you have never been a parent." Bette Davis
I'm definitely a parent. As she walked out the door to go to school this morning, she said, "Screw you. No wonder Dad doesn't like you." She didn't get to sleep until about 2:30 a.m. and wanted me to sign her out of school after her first period English test. Sorry, but she's not sick. "I've been feeling sick for two weeks." It didn't seem to stop her from marching in two parades, spending the night with friends, or going to a party or shopping. It seems the only time I'm a bad parent is when she doesn't get her way. She might be able to sleep better if she stayed off the phone and computer at night. But I think kids these days would consider that child abuse.
"Teenagers are people who act like babies if they're not treated like adults." MAD Magazine
I have turned off my phone so I don't have to deal with her texting me. She isn't supposed to be using her phone at school in the first place. I have emailed my husband, so he can deal with her if she starts texting him, or if there is a true emergency. If she gets her phone taken away again, so be it.
"Conspicuously absent from the Ten Commandments is obligation of parent to child. We must suppose that God felt it unnecessary to command by law what He had ensured by love." Robert Brault
So true. There is no law that says a teenager must have a cell phone or internet access. There is no law that says parents must buy a car for their child when they turn 16. For that matter, paying for their college education is not a requisite for their growing up. What a child really needs is to be told no occasionally, and to know that even though she pitches a fit and threatens to skip school or run away from home or says she hates you, that you still love her unconditionally.
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Well, as far as the computer is concerned, you could always turn time limits on. You must have a password protected account on the computer, as an administrator, and demote her account to Standard. You can then make it so she cannot log on between certain times of day, on certain days, you can exclude Friday and Saturday night if you wish.
ReplyDeleteAlso, although I had a car at 15, I don't recall complaining too much about not having a working one until graduation. I was very thankful when I got it, even if I did not seem so. So thankful, in fact, I cannot get rid of that car because I feel it would be a great disservice to you two. Who knows, maybe when Dad's Taurus finally gives out, the Subaru could be fixed when a transmission is found for about 500 bucks, and a total of roughly 800 to fix it all. (Cooling fan, upper radiator hose, hood, ac hose and recharge and I'd do the work of course) And Dad would have another cheap high mileage car to go another 5-6 years.
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