Journey, Yes, I do feel fortunate that she is at least taking the baby steps. It could be a lot worse. Just ask Hairdog!
S17 is certainly giving us a run for the money. He's got an air of entitlement you wouldn't believe, and gets downright ornery and petulent when he doesn't get what he wants. The latest bit is over the car, which he seems to think he has a right to (not his car, mine...he hasn't saved enough money to buy his own). Last week it was over our limit of 1hour per day with an 11PM curfew on the telephone usage (his cell phone plus the house phone) which we had to instill because he was staying up literally all night talking to his girlfriend and then not wanting to get up in the morning. Girlfriend's dad figured it out and forbade them seeing each other, which sent him over the edge...he cut himself. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. He goes to a catholic high school that has a very good reputation in these parts, but is also pretty expensive. Most of the kids there have very well off parents and are from much smaller families. Many of those kids get anything they want, including cars, electronics, trips, etc. None of which we can afford even if we were inclined to give him everything on a silver platter (which we are not). Most of them also have never had any kind of chores at home. He naturally compares his lot in life with theirs and feels he is getting the short end of the stick, and then takes that out on us. After having been through it, I'm not sure the catholic education is worth the hassle, but then I'm not sure he would have done that well in the public school, as he's always been one to perform only at minimum level he needs to get by. The biggest problem with this, is his siblings see the disrespect he shows to us and them and well, lets just say he is setting the tone for the whole family, and it ain't good. We're fortunate that the next one down, S14, is usually pretty good at picking up the slack (although he is getting resentful at times), has a good work ethic, and takes nothing for granted. How two such different personalities come from the same family is beyond me.
We are both looking forward to "vacation" being over. As we've told S17 when he complains we are "ruining his vacation", it may be his vacation from school, but it sure isn't a vacation for mom and dad. Mom and dad don't know squat though. As MrsGGB puts it, we're just idiots with Master's degrees.
P.S. he still hasn't gotten through the droopy trousers phase. Nobody told him that his waist is at the top of the cheeks, not at the bottom (how they can even walk like that is a mystery to me), but hey, not my problem!
