I think we need to define TT versus GFG

[timer lady]

I've heard a great deal of TT this & TT that ~ then I hear with the tweedles issues, etc, etc, etc.

IMHO, I think this board needs some kind of "list" of TT versus GFG.

TTs don't generally push a parent & run. Or am I wrong?

TTs, as far as I know, love the phone, love hanging with friends, & watching tv, play computer games, etc. TTs are trying to define themselves & where they fit in the world.

GsFG are very ego centric - TTs?

Let's get a way to sort this out - can you help? I know this may sound simplistic but I need & many of you may need a way to sort this out.

[klmno]

IMHO, it's the difference in how our gfg's internalize things and deal with situations that makes the difference- at least for my son. He gets the TT insecurities but b/c of his sensitivity to rejection or whatever, he sets a brush fire, or explodes on something, or gets up during the night to stab the walls instead of just moping around for a few days or having a snotty attitude when things aren't working out well for him.

[Dammit Janet]

What I would say is gfg's are Typical kids on steroids.

If a typical kid was having a fit over not getting to use the phone because they were on punishment, then the gfg would be in an all out rage. TT might stomp to their room, yell at mom and dad how unfair life was, how they were ruining their whole life, slam the door, and pout. A gfg would scream, rage, toss furniture, kick holes in the walls, break the door, and refuse to stay in his room. Profanities would fly.

See the difference?

[klmno]

Well, Janet summed up my son a lot better than I did!

[StepTo2]

WTG Janet!

You just explained to me that Onyxx is, indeed, a GFG.

[Dammit Janet]

And I am not making the big bucks as a therapist why? LOL

[GoingNorth]

My outbursts and behavior as a teen were written off to my being a "difficult teenaged girl".

Looking back through the mirror of many years of learning (much gained from this site), I have realized that my bipolar actually manifested during that time period.

I don't think there is really a clear line between TT and a bigger problem.

[DaisyFace]

I would say that while a "Typical Teen" has their own self-interest at heart, they have a sense of their own place in the world-- In other words, while a TT will push their boundaries, they do recognize that they are a child, they belong to a family, they have a sense of loyality to family, friends and neighbors and an innate sense of self and empathy for others...

A GFG lacks this basic frame of reference and needs to be "taught" some of these sensibilities in order to react appropriately within society.

[totoro]

For us although K is not a teen yet, I would say pre-teen because she is acting very hyper-sexual!, she can't really do any of those things without us.
It is basically everything on high gear, like Janet said.
I explained it to K one day that she basically has Super Human Powers, she feels more, more anger, more joy, more sorrow... more everything.
Even tastes!
Everything is amplified!
When someone makes you angry, it isn't the normal reactions of most kids... it is- K crawling across the floor hours later and twisting his arm behind his back! But couldn't verbalize why, until 4 days later. (Happened last week in school)

I am leary of when she actually enters the teen years.

[Shari]

I like Janet's description - TT on steroids.

Most teens I know are stubborn, disrespectul, self-centered know-it-alls. The difference between TT and gfg is really, I think, the depth of those behaviors. And, like Daisy said, are they aware that they are a piece of a larger universe, or are they still stuck thinking they are the universe?