I'm not a bad parent. But I'm also not as good as I used to think I was. My daughter is doing poorly in two subjects (language arts, which just kills me, and science, which kills her dad, an engineer). She is mouthy, disrespectful, beligerant and moody; most of the time I don't enjoy her company. (She can also be extremely funny, sweet, and fabulously creative.) But what the past school year has taught me is that all those years of being judgemental of other parents with mouthy, disrespectul children was just setting me up for payback: big time.
Everyone has their moments as parents when everything just clicks. But the middle school years? Well, the clicking is silent most of the time. There's weeping, wailing and much gnashing of teeth. But the moments when the sun is shining, the kids are happy and mom and dad are at peace with the universe...hmmm...I'll have to get back to you. And I am SO guilty of thinking smugly to myself, in years past, "oh, I'll never let my child talk to me that way." Or, "I don't know what's so hard about it...it just requires a little discipline." Or the worst, "What is wrong with her (him)? Being a parent isn't brain surgery."
No. It's much harder than that.
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