Removed - too personal, idk.
Aw, dude! I like reading about other people's fucked up parents!
Quote from: ExitApparatus on July 20, 2013, 04:23:40 AM
Removed - too personal, idk.
I'd say let 'er rip. You might feel better or hear from others who have had similar experiences.
Worst case scenario you get some negative feedback for being too angsty or personal (Doesn't seem to happen too often) and even then you learn something and gain some perspective.
Quote from: McGrupp on July 21, 2013, 01:34:32 AM
I'd say let 'er rip. You might feel better or hear from others who have had similar experiences.
Worst case scenario you get some negative feedback for being too angsty or personal (Doesn't seem to happen too often) and even then you learn something and gain some perspective.
Or be told to stop being a whiny little bitch and seize your own life by its big, hairy balls.
Quote from: Da6s on July 21, 2013, 04:29:58 PM
Quote from: McGrupp on July 21, 2013, 01:34:32 AM
I'd say let 'er rip. You might feel better or hear from others who have had similar experiences.
Worst case scenario you get some negative feedback for being too angsty or personal (Doesn't seem to happen too often) and even then you learn something and gain some perspective.
Or be told to stop being a whiny little bitch and seize your own life by its big, hairy balls.
Completely possible.
Besides the fact that an awful lot of angsty teenage rants about parents seem mostly to be along the lines of "They expect me to get decent grades, come home before midnight, clean up after myself, and not do drugs all the time... THE MONSTERS"
Teenagers are, generally, seriously shitty housemates. For the record.
Speaking as a mother?
Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on July 21, 2013, 05:46:24 PM
Speaking as a mother?
Yes.
They are filthy, inconsiderate, and insane, and they act like I'm unreasonable and demanding when I'm like, hey listen, can you fulfill a couple of basic household responsibilities and try to minimize how much I have to clean up after you/make you food/give your rides/pander to your stupid whims and petty emotional crises? I never thought I would reach the day when I can't wait for the little fuckers to move out, but here it is.
All teenagers everywhere over the age of fifteen whose parents are still letting you live at home: You are an ungrateful little asshole. Do your parents buy you clothes, do your laundry, and cook for you? Then oh my god shut up.
99.9% of teenagers complaints about their parents consist of "They're too controlling" and "They don't pander to my selfish, demanding little neeeeeeeeds enough", in other words they get mad at you for staying out all night doing drugs, ask you to please not hide all their good cookware in your room with box mac & cheese encrusting it, and expect you to contribute SOMETHING, ANY SMALL LITTLE THING to the household rather than just skipping school, eating all their food, and trashing the living room with your junk food wrappers and other assorted garbage that you apparently think isn't total squalor.
GROW UP, TEENAGERS. GET A JOB AND SOMEWHERE ELSE TO LIVE.
Yeah, I'm feeling a little frayed.
I think a better place for teenagers are in your legislator's office.
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 21, 2013, 07:09:53 PM
Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on July 21, 2013, 05:46:24 PM
Speaking as a mother?
Yes.
They are filthy, inconsiderate, and insane, and they act like I'm unreasonable and demanding when I'm like, hey listen, can you fulfill a couple of basic household responsibilities and try to minimize how much I have to clean up after you/make you food/give your rides/pander to your stupid whims and petty emotional crises?
[...]
99.9% of teenagers complaints about their parents consist of "They're too controlling" and "They don't pander to my selfish, demanding little neeeeeeeeds enough", in other words they get mad at you for staying out all night doing drugs, ask you to please not hide all their good cookware in your room with box mac & cheese encrusting it, and expect you to contribute SOMETHING, ANY SMALL LITTLE THING to the household rather than just skipping school, eating all their food, and trashing the living room with your junk food wrappers and other assorted garbage that you apparently think isn't total squalor.
GROW UP, TEENAGERS. GET A JOB AND SOMEWHERE ELSE TO LIVE.
Yeah, I'm feeling a little frayed.
A-fucking-men to that. I didn't have to deal so much with the cooking and transport, but the rest is almost exactly my experience as well.
Nothing better to put you off having kids than having to look after some for longer than a week.
Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on July 21, 2013, 09:37:24 PM
I think a better place for teenagers are in your legislator's office.
:horrormirth:
Quote from: Cain on July 21, 2013, 10:04:03 PM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 21, 2013, 07:09:53 PM
Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on July 21, 2013, 05:46:24 PM
Speaking as a mother?
Yes.
They are filthy, inconsiderate, and insane, and they act like I'm unreasonable and demanding when I'm like, hey listen, can you fulfill a couple of basic household responsibilities and try to minimize how much I have to clean up after you/make you food/give your rides/pander to your stupid whims and petty emotional crises?
[...]
99.9% of teenagers complaints about their parents consist of "They're too controlling" and "They don't pander to my selfish, demanding little neeeeeeeeds enough", in other words they get mad at you for staying out all night doing drugs, ask you to please not hide all their good cookware in your room with box mac & cheese encrusting it, and expect you to contribute SOMETHING, ANY SMALL LITTLE THING to the household rather than just skipping school, eating all their food, and trashing the living room with your junk food wrappers and other assorted garbage that you apparently think isn't total squalor.
GROW UP, TEENAGERS. GET A JOB AND SOMEWHERE ELSE TO LIVE.
Yeah, I'm feeling a little frayed.
A-fucking-men to that. I didn't have to deal so much with the cooking and transport, but the rest is almost exactly my experience as well.
Nothing better to put you off having kids than having to look after some for longer than a week.
They're fucking wretched. I'll lend mine out to serve as birth control to anyone who wants them.
I have no idea what happened to my sweet, civilized, well-behaved 11-year-olds.
I am not usually so impatient, but they've been specially trying this week.
In all fairness, I was a shitawful teenager. Mainly it was because my conservative parents sent me to spend a summer with my unbeknownst too them gay cousin. As a result I became extremely opinionated about subjects that were super taboo in redneck conservative TN. Dunno why they'd rebel growing up in glorious pdx. Maybe a teenage vagina induced angst. Or raging testosterone irked-ness.
Moving away improved my relationship with my parents 10 fold. Sucks it took until 23 for that to occur.
Quote from: Da6s on July 22, 2013, 05:58:09 AM
In all fairness, I was a shitawful teenager. Mainly it was because my conservative parents sent me to spend a summer with my unbeknownst too them gay cousin. As a result I became extremely opinionated about subjects that were super taboo in redneck conservative TN. Dunno why they'd rebel growing up in glorious pdx. Maybe a teenage vagina induced angst. Or raging testosterone irked-ness.
Moving away improved my relationship with my parents 10 fold. Sucks it took until 23 for that to occur.
They AREN'T rebelling, and we have great relationships. Seriously. It's kind of weird. We agree on politics and social issues and they almost never lie or break my rules.
They have simply lost all their house manners and are super shitty housemates. Theeeee worst. They're entirely preoccupied with the business of being teenagers, which I 100% acknowledge is difficult and shitty, to such an extent that they've forgotten everything they learned about being reasonable human beings.
I know it's not worse, but in some ways it almost seems worse. I'm like, we just spent three hours talking about various stuff, totally getting along. Why is every dish in the house encrusted with cereal and sitting on the sofa along with an empty jug of milk, some half-chewed Twizzlers, and your socks, while the dinner I made is languishing on the stove? Seriously, do you guys hate me? Who spilled juice in the kitchen and then just left it, and why are all the knives in the sink? Is that blood on the bathroom mirror, and why? Never mind. Don't tell me why. I'll be in my bedroom, crying. Why, yes, I am a little emotional right now, it's funny how being sleep-deprived because you decided to come home at 2:30 am with five of your friends and bake cookies can mess with a person's head. Who are you and why are you trying to ruin my life?
Why is there a juice jug full of clams on the kitchen counter? Why is there sand on the living room floor? Why are there Kraft American Cheese fragments stuck all over the table? Why are there wine cooler bottles behind the TV? Why is there a partially-eaten apple under the sofa cushion? Whose pants are these? Why is my 10" Henckels chef knife and a measuring cup in your room? Why do I have to ask that? Why is this happening to me?
I long for the simple days of infants, when they cried for no reason but at least they didn't take a bite out of a piece of fried chicken, wrap it in a paper towel, and hide it in the lamp.
Have I told you about the two week old steak I once found under a student's pillow?
Quote from: Cain on July 22, 2013, 11:21:16 AM
Have I told you about the two week old steak I once found under a student's pillow?
This both impresses and horrifies me.
What was the thought process that led to that being the best possible storage place for a steak? Crack? Glue?
Being Ukrainian, as far as I can tell.
Quote from: Cain on July 22, 2013, 03:44:19 PM
Being Ukrainian, as far as I can tell.
Dealing with Lithuanian housemates, I think that there's some basic disconnect with east and west and what is, for lack of a better term, normal.
Also, Nigel, that sucks. Sorry to hear it.
Quote from: Da6s on July 22, 2013, 05:58:09 AM
In all fairness, I was a shitawful teenager. Mainly it was because my conservative parents sent me to spend a summer with my unbeknownst too them gay cousin. As a result I became extremely opinionated about subjects that were super taboo in redneck conservative TN. Dunno why they'd rebel growing up in glorious pdx. Maybe a teenage vagina induced angst. Or raging testosterone irked-ness.
Moving away improved my relationship with my parents 10 fold. Sucks it took until 23 for that to occur.
It's part of being a teen. We're all shitty in someway or another, and Nigel's got the age range right.
Around that age, I started doing my own laundry, cooking for myself, doing the dishes that I used, etc...
But my room was a fucking disaster, and I was a little shit in other ways, and a lazy student to boot. That was one of the things that I discovered in college. I either was a lazy student, just didn't have the pathways properly developed, or most likely a combination of the two. Fact is, I just plain didn't understand things that later seemed obvious to me (math) or I understood it but was too selfabsorbed with not being able to do things that were more interesting (i.e. pure entertainment vs. history and language)
Yes, though I wouldn't say that to a Lithuanian's face. As far as they are concerned, they are Western, when compared with Belarussians, Ukrainians, Russians etc. Like the Czechs, they get very offended when referred to as Eastern European.
Quote from: Cain on July 22, 2013, 04:02:23 PM
Yes, though I wouldn't say that to a Lithuanian's face. As far as they are concerned, they are Western, when compared with Belarussians, Ukrainians, Russians etc. Like the Czechs, they get very offended when referred to as Eastern European.
I'm too polite, even while shutting off the smoke alarm at 5:30 am for them while they munch burnt toast, to point out any glaring differences.
Other than I should still be asleep, of course.
Nigel: Have a "GI party".
Quote from: Cain on July 22, 2013, 11:21:16 AM
Have I told you about the two week old steak I once found under a student's pillow?
That made me close my eyes and sigh heavily.
Because it's both crushingly defeating and utterly unsurprising. You just kind of have to throw your hands up and try to turn off the part of your brain that's screaming "WHY? WHY???" because there's no fucking logic. They're regressed to the point of being some kind of cave animals, is all.
The other thing about teenagers that they don't understand is that their parents have lives and interests outside of cleaning up after them and giving them money. The teenager can't comprehend this, but they are a temporary shitstorm of chaos in someone else's otherwise pretty stable life. It really doesn't occur to them, when they are waking up the whole house by "looking for a snack" at 3 am, that they are basically the shittiest housemate that their parents have ever had, and their parents are eagerly waiting for normalcy to resume when they finally move out. To the teenager, their behavior is completely normal, and their parents just need to deal with it because that's life.
Personally, I'm in countdown mode. As soon as the smallest one turns 18 I'm moving into a smaller house so they can't move back in.
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 22, 2013, 04:57:18 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 04:33:39 PM
Nigel: Have a "GI party".
What is this? :?
Nobody leaves til the house is cleaned and scrubbed. Everyone cleans everything, no matter whose mess it was.
Do that a time or two, they'll start picking up after themselves.
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 22, 2013, 05:06:40 PM
The other thing about teenagers that they don't understand is that their parents have lives and interests outside of cleaning up after them and giving them money. The teenager can't comprehend this, but they are a temporary shitstorm of chaos in someone else's otherwise pretty stable life. It really doesn't occur to them, when they are waking up the whole house by "looking for a snack" at 3 am, that they are basically the shittiest housemate that their parents have ever had, and their parents are eagerly waiting for normalcy to resume when they finally move out. To the teenager, their behavior is completely normal, and their parents just need to deal with it because that's life.
Personally, I'm in countdown mode. As soon as the smallest one turns 18 I'm moving into a smaller house so they can't move back in.
And then they leave, and you go crazy in the silence.
Trust me on this one.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 05:40:54 PM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 22, 2013, 04:57:18 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 04:33:39 PM
Nigel: Have a "GI party".
What is this? :?
Nobody leaves til the house is cleaned and scrubbed. Everyone cleans everything, no matter whose mess it was.
Do that a time or two, they'll start picking up after themselves.
Good idea.
Part of the problem is that I'm so damn busy with school that I have a hard time riding herd over them and breathing down their necks to make them get shit clean.
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 22, 2013, 05:49:28 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 05:40:54 PM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 22, 2013, 04:57:18 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 04:33:39 PM
Nigel: Have a "GI party".
What is this? :?
Nobody leaves til the house is cleaned and scrubbed. Everyone cleans everything, no matter whose mess it was.
Do that a time or two, they'll start picking up after themselves.
Good idea.
Part of the problem is that I'm so damn busy with school that I have a hard time riding herd over them and breathing down their necks to make them get shit clean.
Saturdays work. Helpful hint: Get a friend to come help you supervise. You two drink tea. Tell the kids they can do whatever they like when you're happy with the house. This should take 6-8 hours no matter what.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 05:41:40 PM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 22, 2013, 05:06:40 PM
The other thing about teenagers that they don't understand is that their parents have lives and interests outside of cleaning up after them and giving them money. The teenager can't comprehend this, but they are a temporary shitstorm of chaos in someone else's otherwise pretty stable life. It really doesn't occur to them, when they are waking up the whole house by "looking for a snack" at 3 am, that they are basically the shittiest housemate that their parents have ever had, and their parents are eagerly waiting for normalcy to resume when they finally move out. To the teenager, their behavior is completely normal, and their parents just need to deal with it because that's life.
Personally, I'm in countdown mode. As soon as the smallest one turns 18 I'm moving into a smaller house so they can't move back in.
And then they leave, and you go crazy in the silence.
Trust me on this one.
It's possible. I think there may be a pretty significant difference between how introverts and extraverts respond, though. My friend Gordon is an introvert, and his last kid just moved out a couple weeks ago, and he's just enjoying the shit out of having all his space and privacy back, and not cleaning up after anyone.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 05:51:18 PM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 22, 2013, 05:49:28 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 05:40:54 PM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 22, 2013, 04:57:18 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 04:33:39 PM
Nigel: Have a "GI party".
What is this? :?
Nobody leaves til the house is cleaned and scrubbed. Everyone cleans everything, no matter whose mess it was.
Do that a time or two, they'll start picking up after themselves.
Good idea.
Part of the problem is that I'm so damn busy with school that I have a hard time riding herd over them and breathing down their necks to make them get shit clean.
Saturdays work. Helpful hint: Get a friend to come help you supervise. You two drink tea. Tell the kids they can do whatever they like when you're happy with the house. This should take 6-8 hours no matter what.
I don't EVER have 6 hours in a row to do something like that! I can't even imagine what that's like. It'll have to wait until after the term ends, I guess.
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 22, 2013, 05:55:16 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 05:51:18 PM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 22, 2013, 05:49:28 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 05:40:54 PM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 22, 2013, 04:57:18 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 04:33:39 PM
Nigel: Have a "GI party".
What is this? :?
Nobody leaves til the house is cleaned and scrubbed. Everyone cleans everything, no matter whose mess it was.
Do that a time or two, they'll start picking up after themselves.
Good idea.
Part of the problem is that I'm so damn busy with school that I have a hard time riding herd over them and breathing down their necks to make them get shit clean.
Saturdays work. Helpful hint: Get a friend to come help you supervise. You two drink tea. Tell the kids they can do whatever they like when you're happy with the house. This should take 6-8 hours no matter what.
I don't EVER have 6 hours in a row to do something like that! I can't even imagine what that's like. It'll have to wait until after the term ends, I guess.
Or you could do homework and have Cordelia terrorize them into working.
I mean, I know it's a distraction, but it's
for the children. HA. HAHA. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 05:56:28 PM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 22, 2013, 05:55:16 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 05:51:18 PM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 22, 2013, 05:49:28 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 05:40:54 PM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 22, 2013, 04:57:18 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 04:33:39 PM
Nigel: Have a "GI party".
What is this? :?
Nobody leaves til the house is cleaned and scrubbed. Everyone cleans everything, no matter whose mess it was.
Do that a time or two, they'll start picking up after themselves.
Good idea.
Part of the problem is that I'm so damn busy with school that I have a hard time riding herd over them and breathing down their necks to make them get shit clean.
Saturdays work. Helpful hint: Get a friend to come help you supervise. You two drink tea. Tell the kids they can do whatever they like when you're happy with the house. This should take 6-8 hours no matter what.
I don't EVER have 6 hours in a row to do something like that! I can't even imagine what that's like. It'll have to wait until after the term ends, I guess.
Or you could do homework and have Cordelia terrorize them into working.
I mean, I know it's a distraction, but it's for the children. HA. HAHA. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
:lulz: That would probably work, actually.
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 22, 2013, 06:03:30 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 05:56:28 PM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 22, 2013, 05:55:16 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 05:51:18 PM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 22, 2013, 05:49:28 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 05:40:54 PM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 22, 2013, 04:57:18 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 04:33:39 PM
Nigel: Have a "GI party".
What is this? :?
Nobody leaves til the house is cleaned and scrubbed. Everyone cleans everything, no matter whose mess it was.
Do that a time or two, they'll start picking up after themselves.
Good idea.
Part of the problem is that I'm so damn busy with school that I have a hard time riding herd over them and breathing down their necks to make them get shit clean.
Saturdays work. Helpful hint: Get a friend to come help you supervise. You two drink tea. Tell the kids they can do whatever they like when you're happy with the house. This should take 6-8 hours no matter what.
I don't EVER have 6 hours in a row to do something like that! I can't even imagine what that's like. It'll have to wait until after the term ends, I guess.
Or you could do homework and have Cordelia terrorize them into working.
I mean, I know it's a distraction, but it's for the children. HA. HAHA. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
:lulz: That would probably work, actually.
She could casually mention that there's a shortage of bits at work.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 06:04:37 PM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 22, 2013, 06:03:30 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 05:56:28 PM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 22, 2013, 05:55:16 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 05:51:18 PM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 22, 2013, 05:49:28 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 05:40:54 PM
Quote from: M. Nigel Salt on July 22, 2013, 04:57:18 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on July 22, 2013, 04:33:39 PM
Nigel: Have a "GI party".
What is this? :?
Nobody leaves til the house is cleaned and scrubbed. Everyone cleans everything, no matter whose mess it was.
Do that a time or two, they'll start picking up after themselves.
Good idea.
Part of the problem is that I'm so damn busy with school that I have a hard time riding herd over them and breathing down their necks to make them get shit clean.
Saturdays work. Helpful hint: Get a friend to come help you supervise. You two drink tea. Tell the kids they can do whatever they like when you're happy with the house. This should take 6-8 hours no matter what.
I don't EVER have 6 hours in a row to do something like that! I can't even imagine what that's like. It'll have to wait until after the term ends, I guess.
Or you could do homework and have Cordelia terrorize them into working.
I mean, I know it's a distraction, but it's for the children. HA. HAHA. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
:lulz: That would probably work, actually.
She could casually mention that there's a shortage of bits at work.
She should get good and close, look deeply into their eyes, and then say "Those would work".