On Teenagers

(red - for anger) Boy! Did I give my parents this much hell when I was in high school? I guess I did. I'm sorry Mom and Dad. And this one is my step-daughter! I think I get madder than her dad does. What does that tell you?

Let's see... skipping school. Not being where she says she's going to be. Telling bold-faced lies about a couple of things, to us and to her teachers. Using the multi-media on the cell phone (and having no job to pay for it). Downloading ring tones (again, no money to pay for them). And to top it off, crashing our glass coffee table into bits and pieces so that there are shards of glass on everyone's school work and all over the rug and floor, all because she didn't get what she wants and threw a temper fit. I need some prayer, people! Please, God, give me some patience and some wisdom to deal with this the best I can.

I haven't said a word to her, and my husband doesn't talk much to me about it. He gets so defensive if I say anything. I guess I can understand that. And she starts this crud about people not liking her. It's just a cop-out. Oh, poor me! Baloney! I guess it's best I hold my tongue and stay out of it. She probably already blames me for some of it because NOTHING is her own fault.

So, she's lost the lap top for a while (which she wouldn't have except that her uncle bought it for her). She's lost driving privileges, and perhaps the cell phone, too. I think he took it away. But she has no way to pay for a new coffee table (about $400) or to pay the cell phone bill, and I'll tell you another thing. If she thinks I want to contribute one thin dime to her college fund if she can't be responsible enough to trust to go away to school, she's got another thing coming.

All this happens the day after my husband gets home from an out of town trip of four days where he played in a golf tournament sponsored by Southwest Airlines in honor of his deceased brother. So, he was home about 8 hours when all this came about.

Amid all this, she has good grades. She's a bright girl. She has a bright future if she doesn't mess it up right now. Part of it is that she is talking to an ex-boyfriend of hers that she is so hung up on after he treated her like crap over a year ago. You know what it is? She is still so "in love" with him because he rejected her. She can't stand rejection. Who can? But, she sets herself up for a fall over and over. I guess I didn't listen when I was her age, either. I wish someone had MADE me listen and saved me some heartache! If we only knew then what we know now.

And last, the apple doesn't fall far from the maternal tree.

Tomorrow is another day. Hopefully a brighter one. God please have mercy on us all! I just had to vent.