Friday, January 8, 2010

Parenting is the pits.

This was Day Four of the Freakin' Migraine. Thankfully the tooth only hurt for about 30 minutes total today, because I really might have lost my mind.

This morning the 14 year old daughter watched me writhe in agony with the migraine, and stood over me, demanding that I go pick up a friend of hers to spend the (THIRD) weekend (in a row) with us. Never once thought outside herself. Never once accepted the numerous "No"s that I (and my husband, her stepfather) gave her. Until he got in her face and yelled.

Yesterday she spent over 12 hours on the phone.

Tonight she harassed me until I let her use my computer (yes, the same one that cost $250 for the new hard drive and UNSUCCESSFUl data recovery attempt less than TWO DAYS AGO). When I asked her 15 minutes later to return the computer to me, she refused. I prompted her three more times, and then I physically took my MacBook back. At this point she ran into the living room and said if I wasn't going to let her get on chat, she was going to start calling people on the house phone again. I reminded her of the rule that she cannot use the phone after 10pm (a rule that has been in effect in our home for the past 5+ years) and yet she picked up the house phone and started calling people. I went into the living room and took the phone from her as well. As I returned to my bedroom, my 4 year old burst into tears. The 14 year old had hit her. And that earned the angsty little jerk a spanking.

So now she loses the cell phone. Period. And she loses phone use for a month. As well as seeing the bratty friend who she started the day whining for.

So now I wonder. Maybe my parents had a better idea when they kept me scared of them and kept stricter rules on me. When they didn't spare the rod. When they used discipline.

Or maybe I created this monster by being "so mean."

What was I thinking?

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