Is That All You Do

My household is starting to get the teenage syndrome and I can’t say that I am overly pleased. What happened to those wonderful children that used to want to please their parents? They have turned into teenagers that are focused on what they want instead of what their parents see as their best course of action. What makes it worse is that the oldest is gradually turning her sister to the dark side. My youngest, being a boy, is already ignoring what we want. I think it is genetic.

My wife and I have asked repeatedly for the children to do their chores before we get home. On a good day they are half heartedly complete. Normally, they are rushing to take care of them when they hear the garage door open. At least once per week, there is a large sucking sound as I open the garage door into the house. Everything is in complete disarray and the children are lounging in the living room, looking at me like I’m an alien.

Now, if I comment, I am yelling at them. What is up with that? They fail to start / complete the most elemental tasks and I am the bad guy? “All you do is yell at us.” Well what do you think the future is going to hold if you can’t complete simple jobs now? Do you think your college prof is going to say it is okay to be late with the paper? Do you think your boss is going to say it’s all right to sit around and watch Oprah instead of putting in more fries? Even better, what will your kids think when you fail to provide any structure for them to live by and they end up ignoring you just like you did your parents? What an ugly picture.

So the next time I hear, “Is that all you do is yell at us?” I will replace my look of disgust with a smile and remember that the game is afoot and I am the parent. Now pick up this room and get the kitchen cleaned up. Do you have any homework?

Icool

Cobb