F
flutterbee
Guest
I don't expect to be hearing those words much anymore. Lately, easy child - you know, the 16 year old - has been coming to me a lot with that.
So, today he did and I told him to run the vacuum.
easy child: That's not fun.
Me: So. Run the vacuum.
easy child: Is that a demand?
Me: Yes. Run the vacuum.
easy child: Why are you mad at me?
Me: I'm not, but if you're going to come to me and complain of being bored, I'm going to find something for you to do.
:smile:
Somehow they have it in their head that it is still my job to entertain them. If they come to me and say they want to watch a movie together or play cards or talk or whatever, that's different. But, at their age it is not my job to entertain them.
Now on to difficult child. She always - and I do mean always - walks into the room, sits down and announces, "I'm hungry." Which leads to me saying, 'That's nice' or 'Find something to eat' and her announcing that there is nothing. We could eat off what is in the house for a month without going to the store.
She's almost 13. She is perfectly capable of finding something to snack on. But, instead, what she wants me to do is offer her things. So, from now on when she announces it, I'm going to find her something and she is going to eat it whether she likes it or not. Either that, or she can find something herself.
By likes it or not, meaning whether that's what she wants or not. I'm not going to give her something I know she doesn't like - and there isn't much of that, anyway. I'm just tired of offering things and everything is, 'I don't want that'. Why ask then? Just one of those things that drives me up the wall.
So, today he did and I told him to run the vacuum.
easy child: That's not fun.
Me: So. Run the vacuum.
easy child: Is that a demand?
Me: Yes. Run the vacuum.
easy child: Why are you mad at me?
Me: I'm not, but if you're going to come to me and complain of being bored, I'm going to find something for you to do.
:smile:
Somehow they have it in their head that it is still my job to entertain them. If they come to me and say they want to watch a movie together or play cards or talk or whatever, that's different. But, at their age it is not my job to entertain them.
Now on to difficult child. She always - and I do mean always - walks into the room, sits down and announces, "I'm hungry." Which leads to me saying, 'That's nice' or 'Find something to eat' and her announcing that there is nothing. We could eat off what is in the house for a month without going to the store.
She's almost 13. She is perfectly capable of finding something to snack on. But, instead, what she wants me to do is offer her things. So, from now on when she announces it, I'm going to find her something and she is going to eat it whether she likes it or not. Either that, or she can find something herself.
By likes it or not, meaning whether that's what she wants or not. I'm not going to give her something I know she doesn't like - and there isn't much of that, anyway. I'm just tired of offering things and everything is, 'I don't want that'. Why ask then? Just one of those things that drives me up the wall.