• pickersplock said on Dec 31, 2006....

  Winter, this might make you laugh, read my post
  about Prince. Let me know what you think!

• GumpyJumptooth said on Dec 31, 2006....

  Drop your young miss off at the local home for children without parents.  Let her hang out for a weekend.  Or better still, a whole week.
  
  I guarantee you will find yourself greatly appreciated in no time.
  
  What's the old saying on a sign in the Barber Shop when I was growing up....?
  
  "ATTENTION TEENAGERS:
  DO YOUR PARENTS A FAVOR.
  LEAVE HOME NOW.
  BEGIN TO CLOTHE, FEED, AND SHELTER YOURSELF NOW WHILE YOU STILL KNOW EVERYTHING."
  

• ALIENated said on Dec 31, 2006....

  Grumpy is right. Except I say just drive them anywhere 20 miles from home and drop them off. Or far enough that they cannot find their way home. Just kidding. I hope you are kidding, too. Teenagers are easy to outsmart unless they have a source of income. Just start reducing the cash flow until you get the respect you deserve. My child has always been fine because I pay the bills and I never let my child forget who pays the bills. In only a few months I will no longer have a teen, thank God.

• secretlife said on Dec 31, 2006....

  i have 2 teenage girls in my home.
  some days it's great fun.
  many days it's all i can do to hang onto my sanity.
   
  i've found you have to let them make their own mistakes if they think you're stupid....then let them deal with the repurcussions....
   
  oh and i always keep my hand on the pulse of what matters most to them, and when all else fails, i take that thing away from them when they show disrespect.  Most times this 'thing' entails 'freedoms'.....and my being the driver.
   
  good luck.
   
   

• fucked_up_girl said on Jan 01, 2007....

  hey there i think hot man! im 23 and i still act like a teenager sometimes. well... i've been through what your daughter is going through.

• paidinblood said on Jan 01, 2007....

  Can't help you there; good luck though.

• silverwhisper said on Jan 01, 2007....

  ah yes...that age was a time of great arrogance, as i recall. just remember: some day, she'll have kids of her own that will drive her batty in turn and you can just remind her of this time. :D
  
  ed

• babyboomerang said on Feb 06, 2007....

  <i was the teenager every parent fears to have. didn't listen to a thing my parents said, fought with them constantly, partied like the world might end tomorrow. thus, i don't deserve the children i have...or so my mother says>
  
  now i have 4 teenagers: 2 (1girl, 1boy) are my husband's. 2 (1girl, 1boy) are mine. our jobs are made easier by the fact that they rebel against our exes; because our exes make dumb rules and draconian punishments. we get to be the 'cool' parents. having said that, it's not all balloons and cake and warm fuzzies.
  
  much like toddlers, i think you have to pick your battles and give them clear consequences for breaking the rules of the battles you pick. don't sweat the small stuff, & don't bend on the big stuff...
  
  that said, being unwilling to follow school rules is a good battle to pick. give her consequences for breaking YOUR rules of battle. be creative in with your consequences. tell her this: if she continues to break that rule & violates your trust in her, you will take away something she loves to do for a set period of time until she can prove that she is following the rules you've set. (access to her friends, after-school activities, allowance, curfew, computer privileges, etc).
  
  frame it as a matter of trust: if i can trust you to respect my rules, your privileges will increase as my trust in you increases. if i can't, you will lose privileges - for an x amt of time - you already enjoy. you, the child, can choose to do this the hard way or the easy way. just remember to give her more freedoms as she *does* choose to follow your rules.
  
  she's only 14, so take a firm stand on the battle lines now - she's going to keep pushing the boundaries every day.
  
  good luck, and never give up, writerspirit!
  bb
  
  
  

• anonymous said on Dec 10, 2007....

  Advice from an actual teenager, and I will talk to you like a person :]
  I know as a mother, you want to protect us...but you have to get inside our head.
  As a teenage girl..
  what we want right now is to have fun
  hang out with our friends and boyfriends and have the time of our life.
  We, just like you, don't like it when people tell us what to do.
  Though you may be entirely right, we just don't want to hear it.
  Again, I'm trying to be honest.
  Keep teaching, but be a guide instead of a dictator...because nobody likes a dictator. haha...on those lines, trying to control her life will cause a greater rebellion..trust me
  Even after arguments with my parents, I eventually see what they're trying to teach me...and I see that they're trying to teach me.
  Remember...guide. not demand.
  Hope i helped?
  

• TreyLeigh said on Jan 13, 2008....

  Adolescence for me was something I hated and I think I made everyone else around me miserable because of how miserable I felt.

  I'm not about to dispense any advice, but I feel your pain.

  Hang on!  Tough times don't last---tough people do

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