Lisa Barker

Battle of The Generations



Posted: Tuesday, January 02, 2007

by Lisa Barker
http://www.LisaBarker.com

Why do kids push buttons and then have the nerve to look surprised when you ground them?

It’s Monday and already I can tell that the rest of the week is going to be trying. Thanks to my nine-year old son, Mr. Attitude, most of the fun things I had planned to do with him this week have been cancelled.

When do parents ever have the time to make the memories that will one day be called the good old days, if they’re constantly in need of canceling those plans and acting, well, like a parent and NOT a favorite aunt or uncle or best friend?

Apparently, I am being ‘punished’ by my son today because he’s grounded from the television and I keep catching him watching it. The boy has plenty of things to entertain himself with in his room or outside, but he doesn’t see it that way. Instead, I am the evil overlord that has imposed Great Boredom on him.

Well, sing me another tune.

I’d love to know where he’s gotten this inflated sense of self-entitlement especially since I have been doing my best to ensure that my kids suffer since the day they were born. That’s my job. And truthfully, the kids make my job quite easy in that respect.

“Mom, can I go to the park?"

“Is your room clean?"

“Aw!"

“Mom, can I have dessert? “

“You didn’t eat your dinner."

“Aw!"

How difficult is it to meet these expectations? Well apparently it’s very difficult.

Mr. Attitude doesn’t eat wheat bread, nor does he eat the crusts. Mr. Attitude doesn’t change his own bed, wash with soap, fold his own clothes, tie his own shoes, take out the trash or pick up his own room.

This constitutes his proclamation of emancipation (a slammed bedroom door) because these expectations are too high.

Well, he’s grounded. Period. Indefinitely. And if he keeps it up, he’ll have to postpone his wedding in twenty years because he’ll still be grounded.

But it’s not like that’s the end of it. Oh, no. There’s no peace and quiet for this mom. Mr. Attitude has a younger brother who has been seriously studying his behavior.

I ask the three-year old to put on his shoes so he can go outside and play. What do I get? I get a child that throws himself on the floor, wailing at this injustice. He then screams at me, “I can’t take it anymore!"

He can’t take it anymore? He has so very little clue. If he thinks he’s got it rough now, wait until he’s a teen. I consider this the Battle of The Generations, round one. And I’m in it for the long run.

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©Lisa Barker - Jelly Mom™ is written by Lisa Barker, mother of five and author of "Just Because Your Kids Drive You Insane...Doesn't Mean You Are A Bad Parent!" and is syndicated through Martin-Ola Press/Parent To Parent. To publish Jelly Mom, buy the book or leave comments, please visit http://www.jellymom.com. Sign up for the complimentary Jelly Mom™ weekly newsletter and receive a BONUS GIFT!



LISA BARKER wrote the Jelly Mom article from 2004-2009.  While she no longer writes the column, she does have two books available and a third pending all filled with her side-splitting humor.  Visit LisaBarker.com for all the details.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by David Tanguay
 5 years 120 days ago.
Lisa, I’ve never had children of my own but I know what my mother went through raising eleven of us. I tip my hat to you and all those courageous mothers out there. They always seem to know what is right and wrong. Where would we be without them? God bless and good luck
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