Thursday, January 21, 2010

Teenager irritability syndrome, most recent episode surly

Okay, so let's have a conversation.  Tell me why you're here today?
It's my daughter.  She's being very defiant.  She seems angry.
Tell me what you mean by defiant.  I think defiant means different things to different people.
Well, she uses a sarcastic tone of voice.  And sometimes she rolls her eyes at me.
Hmm.  Ummhmm.  Okay.  Tell me more.  
Yesterday, I asked her to help in the kitchen, and she slammed her door.  And  she's verbally abusing her older brother.
'Verbally abusing?' 
Well, he was in her room and she yelled at him that he was a stupid idiot and to get out.


(For the record, I in no way want to minimize the pain of having a teenager. but last week i had a kid who tried to set his mother on fire.  I have to really work hard to keep a straight face for "rolls her eyes at me" and "calls her brother stupid")

How is she doing in school?
She got all As and one B.
Hmm.  well.  How long has this--all this defiance--been going on?
Since she was about 12.  She used to hang on me, follow me everywhere.  Now she seems to be embarassed by me.  She argues with me about everything.
Hmm.  Well.  I tell you what you have....
Yes?
I think you've got yourself a teenager.

Nobody appreciates my humor.


...

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:23 AM

    (too bad you can't call that mother stupid!)...to her face! ;)

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  2. that's great. It's funny....now. I have a 9 year old girl and 7 year old twin girls. Remind me this is funny in a couple years :)

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  3. @jtrimom: it stops being funny for a few years. Then they leave, and it's funny again.

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  4. I get your humor, Too bad I also get to live it for a little while longer

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  5. Having a 'just turned' thirteen year old myself, I can partially relate to this mom's dismay BUT when you compare it to being set on fire, well....there you go.

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  6. Anonymous10:31 AM

    Further proof that it's all a matter of perspective. I thought your response was pretty dang funny. My preeecious is ten. I just finished raising my teenage sisters (was it only fifteen years ago? seems like yesterday) and we never set anything on fire... except my dad's Volkswagon bus...

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  7. My ex called me in a rage over how "defiant" our 17 year old son was. My son's act of defiance? He "snuck off" to my mother's knit shop to hang out with her and work on his French translation project (as opposed to taking the bus home to be alone with his music, computer, video games and no adult supervision). My son said he had asked dad the night before and dad had said ok. My ex says he had been asked, but he'd said "No" (for no good reason he could articulate to me by the way). Therefore our son was being devious and defiant by going anyway. Yep, sneaking off to your grandmother's to do homework - that's a serious case of juvenile delinquency there, don't you think? (There's a reason he's my ex. We don't so much see eye to eye on a lot of things.) Next time, I may have to use the story of the kid trying to set the parent on fire to put things in perspective for him!!

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