The end of my last shred of sanity!
I think teenagers are the bane of my existence, specifically MY teenager! Why is it that the simplest thing has to be a major argument, when 9 times out of 10, the subject at hand shouldn’t have ever been in question in the first place?! :devil: I get so frustrated having the same arguments over and over again. All it does is leave me pissed off or hurt ALL THE TIME! Things like common courtesy, manners, respect, consideration for others. None of these should have to be argued about. I should be able to expect them, both for me and for the other kids in this family. What is with the complete self-centeredness that seems to be all a teen is capable of sometimes?! I seem to spend half my life lecturing him about how is attitude and behavior affects other people and how it makes others feel. When I am mid-lecture, he gets it. But the minute the lecture is over and it comes time for practical application, it is like I never spoke at all.
He never sees just how much this family tends to revolve around him and his schedule. He is so focused on himself and his life that he forgets that the rest of us have lives, too. It is like he wears blinders when it comes to the rest of us. He has no concept of what others sacrifice for him. He doesn’t seem to get that even if the things being sacrificed are unimportant to him, they are important to the person who sacrificed them. They don’t have to be important to him; he should have enough respect and love for that person to appreciate it nonetheless, and that appreciation is sorely lacking. There also seems to be the attitude, that when it is one of the younger three, they are just kids, so it doesn’t really matter anyway. And that lack of respect for his brothers irritates me. I don’t care how old they are; they are still people and they deserve respect. The fact that the younger boys’ after school outdoor playtime is short is a perfect example. By the time homework is done and they can go out, they generally only have an hour before we have to pack up and go get Donovan. Playing outdoors isn’t important to him, but it is to the young ones. So it doesn’t even register that it is a sacrifice that they make for him. Little things like that.
It isn’t like I expect him to go on bended knee and pledge undying gratefulness for all we do. I just would like some appreciation and respect, some sign that he gets that he isn’t the center of the world. There are so many ways he could show some appreciation, with little effort and little time. He doesn’t get how much something simple like offering to play a board game with the boys would mean to them. Or taking them outside and playing with them. Or for me, actually doing what he is supposed to without making me nag him. Or taking the initiative to help me out a little, give me a bit of a break. It isn’t even necessarily about doing things. It is about being nice, having the right attitude, having some appreciation for your family.
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