Sunday, March 14, 2010

Teenage Angst and Why it Isn't OK to Say No

Teenage angst. Jealousy between siblings. Fault finding. Emotions. All of the things that get wrapped into the teenage experience. And somehow, at the root of every single issue is their mother and how horrible she is. It gets tiring to say the least.

I also have a couple of children who can't be told no. If I try to do so -- about anything at all -- it then begins a seemingly endless argument.

Last night I got some long wordy text from a child in my own house about our relationship and how bad I am, but my phone was off. So this child, who was in my home at the time, texted a sibling and my husband to ask them if I received the text. I suppose walking up the stairs and asking me would have been way too much work.

Fortunately I have been parenting at least one teenager for 10 years and so I'm getting used to being the one to blame for it all. And I have 9 more years to go before everyone will be over 19. I guess I didn't think that through huh -- 19 years of parenting teens.

But the one thing I do know is that within days or hours there will be a fresh new mood to deal with....

3 comments:

Jersey Guy said...

So don't tell them no. Tell them you'd really love to let them do/have/go but their father won't allow it.

DynamicDuo said...

no means no here - our girls are figuring out it doesn't work to argue with us - if they choose to have a wobbler over it, well then go ahead but there will be consequences such as no to phone priveledges, no to TV etc...

Unknown said...

Aren't teenagers fun? I have 2 teenagers, a boy and a girl. Both are very different in terms of personalities and issues I need to deal with. I don't have all the answers and get quite frustrated sometimes so I usually turn to a great website called Parenting Powers with Susan Epstein. She has so much information on her site and as a member I have direct access to Susan to ask her questions. I just purchased her book, Your Out Of Control Teen, as well read a recent article called I Want to Stop Nagging. Lots of tips and tricks to get the respect you deserve as a parent. Her site is www.parentingpowers.com/member