Living with a strop-monster

Any parent will tell you that balancing your child's moods with your own can be extremely stressful at times.  You can guarantee your toddler will throw himself on the floor of the supermarket and kick and scream on the day when you have been up all night or your cat has just died.  The day when you are feeling on top of the world, dressed beautifully, with hair done and make up on is the day your toddler also behaves beautifully.  And that just isn't fair.  You could cope with anything on that day.


I'm sad to say, though, that it just doesn't get any better.  You always hope they will grow out of the 'phase' they are in and they do.  Unfortunately, it's just as you've worked out how to deal with that 'phase' and they move into something new, that you have absolutely no idea about.

Teenagers can be particularly tricky.  They start to have their own opinions and voice them.  If you argue with them they are always right (even when they're not) and even worse sometimes they are right and you end up looking stupid.  They have more stress in their lives (living out their teachers stressful targets) than anyone should have to cope with and they have hormones doing really weird things to their bodies.

A colleague told me today that her daughter once said to her, "I DO have hormones, you know!", to which my colleague snapped, "So do I!"  And although, it is possible to be sympathetic about a teenage girls hormones it can be quite difficult when you are rapidly approaching 50 and your hormones seem to be having a private party of their own.

This week I have 2 teenagers in the school play, one who is doing A levels and dealing with University offers or rejections.  That might be quite stressful but it's Christmas and I am a music teacher with no voice and a very sore throat.

With both children out my long suffering husband wondered what we might do with our evening.  It's quite sad but we settled on cleaning out a cupboard and tidying the bookshelf.  We know how to live!