SS Week Off to a Great Start
Schools around here were closed all last week thanks to snow, followed by bitter cold that kept it from melting. (This is the South. We have limited supplies and equipment for handling snow.) Thank goodness, it was BM's week.
Yesterday, we picked up SS13 and he's overjoyed about possibly not having to go Monday. DH and I both pointed out that he won't be so excited when he's having to go to school into June. (By state law, they're no longer allowed AMI days. They have to tack missed days onto the end of the year.)
Thanks to possibility for freezing rain in the morning, his district and pretty much every other one in the area announced a two-hour delay.
SS13 (cheerfully): Well, I don't think I should have to go at all. I can just stay home, right?
DH: Nope. You're going.
That's fine. Normal. But then SS kept pushing it over. And over. And over. The first time is a joke, fine. After that, it's annoying as hell. He brought it up probably 12 times.
So we get up this morning and -- they cancelled. Every other district and private school in this part of the state kept to the late start. The roads are wet, but perfectly fine. Temperatures have been above freezing all day.
So now we're stuck with this spoiled brat kid gloating about how he didn't have to go to school. Thank goodness he's now disappeared to his room. But for a while he was down here and his cheerfulness was grating.
DH pointed out that if the makeup days end up being on BM's week, there's a decent chance she won't make him go. She's the one who will hurry over to pick him up early if there's a storm or will just check him out after any sort of assembly or ceremony. DH's attitude is, if you're not running a fever and school is open, your ass is in class.
Anyway, he's extra annoying lately. He's discovered sarcasm (without any idea how to actually do it so it's funny) and obviously thinks he's a comedian.
He's also driving me more and more crazy about our dog. Constantly calling to him and trying to get him to come sit with him. Dog ignores him unless there's food. Last night, SS crowed "see? He likes me best!" Why? Because he was lying next to SS while he ate. Because SS is a slob with no table skills who regularly spills.
This morning was Dog's annual vet visit and DH was going with me to help, so SS had to go along.
SS: So, Dog can sit with me, right?
Me: Nope. He's riding with me.
SS: I mean if he wants to...
Me: No.
It shouldn't bother me so much. He's a kid. I'm an adult. And I know the dog is attached to me above anyone. But the kid is so damned spoiled and obnoxious and I keep waiting for things to happen to bring reality crashing down on his head. I'll admit it makes me a little happy when SS kneels down to pet Dog and Dog waddles right on by.
And I wish he'd leave the dog alone.
But I'm easily annoyed these days. Work is stressful and I'm on the emotional roller coaster after my grandmother's death.
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Comments
The teenage cockiness drives
The teenage cockiness drives me up the wall (especially when they end up being "right" and it only fuels their ego). But we all get older and life has a way of knocking us down a few pegs. LI used to be so cocky about how she was going to be a astronaut/lawyer/doctor/president and make a million dollars as an influencer on the side while curing cancer and marrying her favorite celebrity. It's a marshmallow world for teens but reality eventually hits all of us.
Too bad your DH didn't decide
Too bad your DH didn't decide that no school = chores all day.
Yeah, I know! Unfortunately,
Yeah, I know! Unfortunately, DH is super-busy and stressed right now (he's in the accounting field, so it's 1099 prep season). I don't think he wants to deal with the attitude or the necessary supervision.
He's 13. Why on earth did he
He's 13. Why on earth did he have to come along for the dog's vet visit? Yikes!!
Can he NOT be trusted to stay home alone?
Nope. We can't trust him on
Nope. We can't trust him on much of anything, really. He's known to take food/drink to his room (not allowed), jump on furniture, fail to properly clean messes...
Easier to take him.
I came here to say that.. DH
I came here to say that.. DH needs to recognize that at 13 his kid can't be left alone is not ok.
The snow stuff meh. I can totally see how annoying it is but with kids that don't get snow days I can see the excitement. We haven't gotten much snow in a few years and it's depressing that I haven't been able to take a "snow day" from work and I'm in New England!
Agreed. He's untrustworthy
Agreed. He's untrustworthy and immature. Not great.
And I totally get it on the snow days! I would have been excited, too. I think it was just the degree to which he was being obnoxious. And constantly pushing his dad to just let him stay home when it looked like they were going to have school today. Good grief, did that get old. I thought DH should have finally just told him to knock it off, but I stay out unless asked.
If my kids tried to act that
If my kids tried to act that way, bugging about something over and over, i would say loudly (or yell depending on how annoyed i was) "ENOUGH!" I shudder to imagine how annoying they would have acted if nobody made them stop being annoying. I feel bad for kids who are trained to be unlikeable by parents who kiss their behinds. I think they are truly confused about why people don't like them.
So the little darling came
So the little darling came down for lunch. DH told him there was leftover tomato soup in the fridge or he could fix himself a sandwich.
SS: Did you know breakfast is the most awesome thing ever for lunch?
(Meaning scrambled eggs, bacon, toast.)
DH: Maybe so. But we're having breakfast for dinner either tonight or tomorrow and Hastings and I are too busy to fix it for you today anyway.
(No, he can't fix it himself. Toast? Yes. Or bacon in the microwave. But he has no clue how to make eggs or use our gas stove.)
He fixed his soup and ate it. But he did everything as loudly as possible, glaring at DH and looking like he was going to cry.
DH was busy fixing his own lunch before a work call and ignored him.
I can't with this kid. Poor widdle pwince couldn't have the lunch he wanted -- so he has a snit fit and cries about it? At 13?
My SS (who is almost 12) used
My SS (who is almost 12) used to be like this constantly and sometimes still is. His way (or BM's way) was the best and only way and he would fight tooth and nail to always be right. He would get so argumentative, defiant, and cocky about every little thing. You could say the sky was blue, he would argue it's green, and then spend all day trying to prove his point. And he was a manipulative little shit about it too, like yours, slamming cupboards, being loud, making it clear that we all needed to be miserable because he was.
DH snapped at him one day and said "Nobody likes a cocky show-off, especially when it is a kid being that way to an adult. The expectations at this house are not your concern and do not need your input or opinion. You do it again and you will find yourself grounded." He never acted that way again, unless BM was super heavy on the PAS before a visit.
Our dear mother....
would have had us at the table studying all day if we got shittly about a snow day and then gloated and were snarky about it. to the point we were annoying little shits.
Give it a try.... it works. All day, reading, doing math problems, etc... the more he whines and moans, add writing countless tens of thousands of sentences in perfect hand writing, perfect grammar, and perfect punctuation.
"School is my job. I will do my job to perfection and I will not disturb others while I an supposed to be doing my job. If I fail to recognize that school is my job and I disturb others while I am supposed to be doing my job, I will write sentences for countelss hours until I clearly understand the lesson the sentences are teaching me."
100-180 sentences an hour, all day, for any and all free time, until the kid learrns, and until the thousands of sentences assigned are completed to perfection.
If a kid screws around when they are supposed to be behaving, they can work when they are supposed to be goofing off.
Try it.
My SS-31 wrote tens of thousands of sentences from age 8 until about 13 and now has impeccable handwriting.