pushing the limits...

I remember my mom and brother butting heads when he was a pre-teen, of course they are vague memories but I remember that he would drive my mom crazy!!!  I would always run away from the situation, either outside or up to my room, once the shouting began just to avoid any confrontation.  I didn’t want to have anything to do with any of it. 

Now. All these years later, I get to experience my very own pre-teen rebellion (it’s not really full-on rebellion but for my guy, it’s pretty rebellious).  He talks back, rolls his eyes, denies any and all wrong doing, (it’s always someone else’s fault), quick to talk…incredibly slow to listen, throws tantrums (yes, they even do that at age 12 and trust me, it aint pretty), he won’t brush his teeth, wash his hair (or any important and particularly smelly body parts), hates to blow his nose and is addicted to his phone, FB and the damn Xbox.  I love him to pieces, but something’s gotta give here, kid. Time to reign things in.  There is only so much I can stand and excuse as “growing pains”. I don’t stand for the mouthy, sarcastic comments he throws at his brother and sister (shut up, you suck…loving and encouraging things like that).

I am so incredibly grateful that I have someone to walk this journey with. It’s never going to be an easy road, lots of raised voices, tears, frustration, sticking to what we believe in regarding the way we raise our children.  I am grateful that my hubby and I are, for the most part, on the same page.  We want this kid to grow up with guidelines, boundaries, knowing right from wrong, and that he is an honest and respectful guy.  All that being said, I read his FB page and messages, check his friends and friends of friends, check his texts…I’ve even informed him that I can go down to the TMobile store and they can print out ALL the texts he has ever sent or received on his phone.  You should have seen the size of his eyeballs when I told him that!! I have restricted his Xbox playtime and I am not against packing it up and putting it away and once he has proven a better behavior pattern, he can earn it back, one controller and game at a time. 

I understand that every kid is going to push their limits with their parents just to see how much they can get away with. I remind him everyday that I can and will push back.