Harvey - I guess if anyone knows what having a (nearly) teenage daughter is like it's going to be you. Yep. It's tough. I have to force myself to remember to put aside my own ego. She loves her dad because he is her dad and he loves her. He really does make time for them both. Plus he is the good looking father with the fancy job and the cool car. He is someone her friends can admire. She loves me too. It's just that I have a job no-one really understands and my car isn't as cool and yes, we have an amazing home, but she took that for granted a long time ago. I am also the one that gets her out of bed every day and tells her to clean her room.
DV - I am so glad you are here (though I do wish you'd not found yourself here in the first place). I'm trying not to beat myself up. This is largely just teenager stuff. Rationally I know that. But like I said, it is still hard to put aside my ego. I am trying though. Sometimes I falter. D13 has inherited most of her qualities from her father. The good and the bad. The anxiety stemming from a fear of not being good enough, a fear of being judged. This fear and need to be the best has driven him to great heights. From a lower middle class upbringing to living in the posh part of town. She will go far with those qualities. I just hope, that unlike him, by the time she reaches 40, she learns to accept and love her flaws.
D13 has recovered and we are back to just normal sulkiness with the occasional laughter. She sometimes even initiates conversation. There is no desire to discuss - just sweep under the carpet and pretend it didn't happen. If I broach, then she says "I'm fine". Told you, just like her dad.
Yail - I've always said "shut up" is one of the worst things you could say to someone. Everyone has a right to speak and no-one should take away that right. I didn't want my children to grow up thinking that what they have to say doesn't matter. But, sometimes we don't always walk the walk and I am sorry for that. However, I also taught my children not to interrupt. D@mn, this parenting thing is hard. So much harder when at times I feel like I'm doing it alone and that H gets all the 'good' times because he picks and chooses when he sees them. I have to push those thoughts back and just be grateful that he wants to see them at all.
