So, I have a household with two teens. I love them both more than anything. My daughter is 13 and her brother will be 19 and graduating next month. The 19 year-old has been a challenge throughout his lifetime, ( I will talk more about that at another time) but I can honestly say that my daughter has been an angel. I joke that God sent her to me to make up for all the stress the first one put into my life! I had a feeling at some point the tides would change- that time is now. Whaaaaaaaaa!
When we raised my two, they got presents on their birthdays, Easter, Valentine’s Day, and Christmas. We did go overboard on Christmas, I will admit that. But, they did not get things throughout the year, unless they were items they needed- new shoes, clothes, etc.
Now, my son is like me- low maintenance. He does not need many clothes, could care less about name brands- as long as it looks good on him, he is good.
My daughter, on the other hand, is a high-maintenance teen. She wants high-end clothes, high-end makeup (the one concession I make, because it is better for her skin,) and high-end everything else.
We live in a high-end county, but we are not in the highest area of that county- kind of a mid-range area, which I planned on purpose. But that has not stopped her from wanting all the high-end things she sees online. She loves to look online and “research” things. This works out great when we are going on vacation- she finds all the great places to visit and places to eat! But, when she is constantly coming up and saying, “Look at this great makeup palette so-and-so just released!” or “Look at this new line of clothing my favorite social media people are releasing!” I just cringe.
Does she deserve all the things she wants? Absolutely. She is a straight A student, which she likes to tell me when she wants something, and it comes very easy for her. She rarely ever has homework and can study something once with flashcards, and she has it. (She gets the photographic study memory from me!) But does she want to work to earn money- no! Doing chores around the house is of no interest to her. Now, if Starbucks™ or Sephora™ would hire her, she would be all over that! So, when she wants things that we will not give her and she is not willing to work for it, she just mopes and pouts, sometimes ending up crying about it. I like to believe it is the teenage hormones or the lack of sleep causing her to get this upset, but is it really? Does she really think she should get everything she wants because she wants it so bad?
I told her yesterday when I was getting frustrated with her latest outburst about not going to Olive Garden ™ for dinner, that I would love a million dollars, but some things just aren’t going to happen. Her reply was a snarky, “I don’t see you working towards that?”
“Really? The 52 hour work weeks I put in mean nothing?”
Well, you can imagine that was when I walked out of the room to avoid unleashing my own hormonal fury upon her.
So, the next years are going to be fun, it sounds like (I say sarcastically!) I hear other moms of teens going through the same thing, and I used to say, “I am so lucky mine is not acting snarky like that!” Well, the jig is up! Here it comes! I am going to have to brace myself and take some deep breaths, because she appears to be starting out this transition with a bang! Wish me luck!