Another "bad parent" award winner here..... NOT! (long vent to follow)

[Claudia1]

DS just texted me an apology! He has calmed down and knows it was bad. That also tells me that his friends are not fueling his fire or else he would not have apologized during school with his peers giving their opinions. They know they all have it good.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

I am TOTALLY stealing "I am the boss of the applesauce."

I will tell my daughters that I'll say it in front of their friends if they act up...

 

[daisax]

Grab the camcorder and invite him to present his grievances "for the record." Some day you could have a real laugh with that!

 

[cruisnfamily]

...I AM the boss of the applesauce. I think a little well directed humor deflects these kinds of conflicts. Try it.

Thanks, everybody, for the encouragement!!!!! I knew I could count on my DIS family for support. You have all given me wonderful coping mechanisms.

"I AM the boss of the applesauce"

"Stop acting like a ten year old and I'll stop treating you like a ten year old."
(and all of Kickapoo Joie Juice's comments)

"That is just too bad.. in our house we have rules. "

He is not our one & only but his older sister had lots of mental health issues from her biological mother, so he is our first typical teen. About the time he grows out of this, our DGD that we are raising will be approaching her teen years. I am 55 yrs old...... taking her thru her teens will be ..... um.... scary.

(BTW, I should have added to my flames comment. I was just too much in the moment of stress to remember that detail!)

I am TOTALLY stealing "I am the boss of the applesauce."

I will tell my daughters that I'll say it in front of their friends if they act up...

Just love "I am the boss of the applesauce" and I am also totally stealing it! Thanks for a new expression to use on my darling teens!

 

[StefnMike]

Ahhh...the point of view of a teenager. Makes you laugh anyway.

Glad he apologized. It sounds like you have a good kid there.

 

[hereyago]

I remember when I first had my license. We had to go with our parents to the courthouse and go before a judge to receive it. He scared the living bejeebas out of us.
He told our parents they could take away our license at anytime if we messed up and he didn't want to see us in his court room again or worse in the newspaper in the obituary section.

YOu are doing a good job, we are not here to be our kid's buddies.

 

[minkydog]

DS just texted me an apology! He has calmed down and knows it was bad. That also tells me that his friends are not fueling his fire or else he would not have apologized during school with his peers giving their opinions. They know they all have it good.

Or maybe he just wants to massage your feelings a little in hopes of getting his keys back. I love my teens, but I know they will tell me just about anything if they think they can get their way. Not that they lie; they dont. But they'll do things like compliment my hair, take a keen interest in cleaning up the kitchen or taking the garbags out, offer to vacuum. Yeah, I know it's totally manipulation and I dont give in to it. I do thank them for their compliments and hard work and I promise to consider it when I decide whether to give them back their keys, computer, cell phone, etc. When they really do get sorry for what they've done their attitudes change from "Hah! I can totally school you!" to a sincere "Mom, I was wrong and I'm sorry and I know I don't deserve my privilege and I'm willing to abide by the rules."

 

[Serena]

Claudia, you are a wonderful mom. You know it, and so does he.

 

[Handbag Lady]

You CLEARLY are doing a great job!

My niece was a wildchild in her teens. Her mom booked a mother-daughter vacation to Hawaii so my niece acted up for months ahead of time, knowing she was going to Hawaii no matter what. My sister stepped in and said if she kept it up, NO Hawaii. My niece didn't believe her and kept carrying on.

A week before the trip, my sister calls our mom and invites her instead. My niece had to stay with evil and mean grandpa for a week and follow HIS rules (the same rules my sister and I had growing up, egads!)

She turned out to be a lovely young lady and learned her lesson.

Evil parents rock.

 

[smschex]

Grab the camcorder and invite him to present his grievances "for the record." Some day you could have a real laugh with that!

We tell our son to write it in his "therapy notebook." That way he will have a very accurate account to present to his psychiatrist during the sessions he will obviously require because of how he has suffered from our unreasonable demands.

He says he is up to volume 6.

 

[Claudia1]

We tell our son to write it in his "therapy notebook." That way he will have a very accurate account to present to his psychiatrist during the sessions he will obviously require because of how he has suffered from our unreasonable demands.

He says he is up to volume 6.

I laughed out loud with your post, smschex! Very, very funny!

 

[golfgal]

I remember when I first had my license. We had to go with our parents to the courthouse and go before a judge to receive it. He scared the living bejeebas out of us.
He told our parents they could take away our license at anytime if we messed up and he didn't want to see us in his court room again or worse in the newspaper in the obituary section.

YOu are doing a good job, we are not here to be our kid's buddies.

When DS17 got his license the woman at the DMV made it very clear that mom and dad can take away their license for any reason. I thought that was great. Having a JUDGE do that would be perfect. DS is very responsible driver so I don't worry too much (we had a camera system from our insurance company that monitored his driving behavior so I have PROOF of that statement ).

OP, we have 3 teenagers, they all have jobs to do around the house, they occasionally have to stay home when they would rather go out, they have to help pay for things on occasion too. DS17 is saving for college so he "pays" for gas and insurance by being our chauffeur running siblings to events, going to the grocery store, etc.

We haven't had too much attitude, YET. DS17 is pretty laid back and isn't very social so he is easy that way. When the twins get to be driving age I am sure we will have more of what you are dealing with now-help us .