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Thursday, February 18, 2010

Angst Schmangst

Violet is killing me with the angsty hormonal tween act. Everything and I do mean everything becomes a huge ordeal with her that can only be remedied by dissolving into tears and informing everyone within earshot that her life, it is terrible. Apparently, we are affronting her very being by even daring to breathe in her general direction.

Remember when I said we were going to have a family day last Sunday? We decided to be spontaneous and as a last minute surprise, took the girls to Busch freakin' Gardens. You would think that it would be impossible for a kid to have a shitty time at a theme park. Well, you would be wrong. Violet spent the day arguing with everybody, then sighing and rolling her eyes about the injustice of it all. Parenting would be a lot more satisfying if when your kids are acting like an ass, it was considered acceptable to turn to them and say "You're acting like an ass."

It doesn't help that my own mother just laughs knowingly when she witnesses Violet's angsty antics. She loves to remind me that I hated her between the ages of 12 and 18. When I was 16, my mom took me on a trip to Jamaica. Asshole teenager that I was, I remember that I wanted to be anywhere in the world but in Jamaica with my mother. So I spent the next seven days acting like a total asshat.

I also remember that when we got back from Jamaica, my mom was so horrified by my unappreciative behavior that she made me see a family counselor with her. The counselor listened to her story about the Jamaica trip and declared me to be a normal teenager. Then he asked my mom to make another appointment so the two of them could talk through some of her "issues." I drove my own mother crazy.

Oh karma, you're such a bitch.

8 comments:

  1. Hee! I think you should have done it: tell the little shit she's being a shit.
    Of course my angel would NEVER behave that way. She's going to break my heart by dating all the wrong boys and sneaking around behind my back.
    (I have a friend who tells her son he's being a little shit but since he has speech delay it hasn't bitten her in the butt yet.)

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  2. Wait a minute - are you telling me that I shouldn't tell my kids that they are acting like asses? Because I totally do - in fact I just did about 2 minutes ago...

    I can relate all too well to what you said about Busch Gardens. When I was 14 my mom took me and my 7 year old brother to Disneyland and I acted like a TOTAL asshat. I even have pictures where I'm rolling my eyes as if to say, "This is soooo lame." Karma came back to bite me in the ass already though, b/c I took my own kids on the Disneyland trip from HELL two years ago (and they're not even tweens). I feel your pain.

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  3. Hang in there, Chikee-poo. At that point in a youngster's life such unpleasant angst is often the rule rather than the exception. I remember one time I got so fed up with my daughter's snooping through my stuff--something I never did to her, though I probably should have--that I went into her room and emptied every single drawer and hanger into a big pile on the floor. Little neat-freak that she was, she was furious with me but I'm pretty sure she got the point. If she ever snooped again, she was very careful 'cause I never saw any hint of it. Unfortunately I believe the majority of us go through this ugly phase (I know I was horrible to my mother for a while there), so just stand your ground and keep grinning when you're able. Y'all'll be laughing about some of these things down the road the way my daughter and I have. The bad stuff tends to fade with time.

    Right now I'm a lurker, so I'll keep coming around for now. I'll let you know when I graduate to blogger status, and hope you'll drop in to visit.

    --Coopah

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  4. Oh yeah....It is just fine to tell them what little jerks they're being. Let's 'em know you're paying attention. ;)
    --coopah

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  5. OMG.... LOL at the karma thing. Livin your life right now... got my own 11 year old girl. It's amazing I survived 41 years without her know-it-all-ness!

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  6. My eldest 12, and so far it's okay. However, her moods shift fast. My middle daughter, now she is the one who scares me. She is super drama queen. Can't we just skip to the part where we are all friends again?

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  7. I know it's possible for a kid to have a shitty time at a theme park. I've seen it. More than once. My oldest is never, ever happy and he isn't even a teen yet. God help me.

    PS We're going to Disney for Spring Break and will need lots of prayers and booze to survive.

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  8. I'm trying to play catch up...sorry I'm late to the reading/commenting party.

    I can only imagine what I am in store for with my daughter. I think I was an asshat nonstop between 13 and 18. I'm pretty sure I missed the memo that said I shoudlnt' tell my kid she's behaving like an ass....I'll most likely forget that I read it here too *wink*

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