survive my teenager

I just am.

Confidential to folks with younger kids or no kids: trust me, it’s a lot harder to deal with in the trenches.

I’m 37 years old, totally cool, well-read, good-looking, great cook, non-judgemental, have an interesting job, and my 14 YO kid wants nothing to do with me.

Not only that, he has witheld his friends from us. He’s ashamed of us because we don’t make “enough” money. We live in a small house and don’t buy a lot of shit we don’t need. I guess if I was a suburban housewife and my husband was a cube jockey or old money, we’d be more up to snuff.

Karma’s a bitch, but you know? I think he’s not in charge anymore. I was ashamed of my parents, but I was never in charge. If they didn’t know my friends, I didn’t hang out with them. They may not have socialized with my friends’ parents, but they knew who those people were. My kid has been in charge, has dictated… even though there’s always been this illusion that we’re in charge. We haven’t been, because we’ve let the discussion be all about him.

Lots to think about.