Sunday, March 2, 2008

Roller Coaster Week with a Teenager

I haven't written about L lately because things with her have been changing so fast that when I think about writing it is no longer applicable. Good Heavens it has been a ride. I think the easiest way to do this would be to list the day and write about the most significant issue of that day.

Saturday 2/23 - Once again I had no idea where she was on this day. She left to go hang with friends on Friday night - didn't check in - and didn't bother coming home. She was also to clean her bedroom and bathroom but a little hard to accomplish that when you don't show up at home. I went to game night at Lyd's got home around midnight - L showed up at home sometime early early Sunday morning.

Sunday 2/24 - This was my Pike Place Market day. L got up around 10 or so and proceeded to get an attitude with me because I had plans for this day and she wanted to go to Target. She phrased it as - The one day I want to spend with you and you are going out - hmmm Mom has a life - how surprising! I think she only wanted to spend time with my wallet - hoping I would buy her something at Target seeing as she has no money.

Monday - Wednesday - these days were fairly calm. I let her know that I expected her room and bathroom to be clean by the end of day Friday or else the rooms would become my weekend project. She said Not if she was home because I wasn't coming in to her room - of course this escalated into a discussion about how she's not paying rent so I could enter the room whenever I wanted. I then told her it won't be an issue if she gets them clean. She was in and out most of these days.

Thursday - When I got home the Internet wasn't working on my computer - the main box is in L's room so I went in there to try and reset and figure out what was going on. First thing - L had taken the Internet cord out of the wireless box and plugged it directly in to her computer. I started moving cords around when L came home from work. She went ballistic because I was in her room. I explained I was trying to fix the Internet - she said if I take the cord from her computer her Internet won't work - i told her it's not my problem she broke yet another computer and that she needed to keep the Internet connected to the wireless. Let's just say that things escalated from there. I gave her the rules for staying in the house once she turns 18 and she ended up leaving the house and going to her friend Jenny's. The major sticking point with her is that i want her to pay $200 rent. How is she supposed to pay that when she is only working 15 hours a week. Hmmmm - once again not my problem that she got fired and she needs to figure it out. She came home early Friday morning and was cleaning her room and bathroom when I left for work Friday morning.

Friday - I made sure I got home from work early enough to get my stuff and Muppet to go to Lyd's before L got home. She called me after I left and was driving to Lyd's. She was actually calm on the phone. She wanted to discuss the house rules - which to her means that she wants me to change my mind. She still didn't like the rent amount and she wanted to know why I made a rule that she couldn't have guys sleeping in her room. She said I was trying to have her be like my generation and I should let her be herself. OK - I sounded like my parents here in that I said - As long as you are living under my roof you will live by my rules. If you want to live by your own rules you need to move out. She need to make some compromises. Later in the evening she called me at Lyd's to ask me to order her a pizza - that's right - I said No and she said I never buy her anything and that she wasn't joking and didn't I think there was something wrong with that. I laughed and said good bye!

Saturday - She headed out to a friends house about 3. She had cleaned her room and bathroom. She called and checked in a couple times during the night. Wow! Things were looking up.

Today - No calls form L. I had no idea where she was and her phone was off. She came waltzing in tonight around 6:00pm. When I made a comment about her not checking in she said her hone had died. I said - No one else had a phone and she responded with she wasn't thinking about that and it wasn't a big deal. She is now in her room.

I think we came full circle as this is the way things were last Sunday. So lets recap! Moody Teen - Angry Teen - Ready to Talk Teen - Co-operative Teen - Snotty Teen. Stop! I want to get off this crazy ride!!

In case you're keeping track along with me - 69 days until she turns 18!

De

No comments: