Parenting is Still Hard

I was in the process of writing an update on our new parenting method. However, I decided that I didn’t really have much progress to report. We are in the full throes of behavior modification training. Zack wanted to get in on the fun too and decided to start digging in his heels and displaying resistance to everything that we ask him to do. After two weeks of getting up on his own, Anthony decided not to set his alarm for school the other morning, which resulted in him waking up after school had started, which resulted in a major freak-out, which resulted in his bedroom door being removed, which resulted in making Carl happy. Things are not pleasant here. We are standing firm. We are trying not to engage. We are trying not to yell. We are trying not to lecture. It is taking every ounce of restraint not to just go ballistic on the boys.

I tried to call the counselor today for a pep-talk. But he had the nerve to leave the country for a week. He has abandoned us at our hour of need. When he gets back into town, we need to find out how to handle the following situations:

• lying
• a teen that refuses to go somewhere that you ask. Do you physically drag them out the door? Or do you leave without them and implement consequences afterward? (which is what we did)
• an angry teen that leaves the house, promising not to come back until he gets his way. How long do you wait before you take action?
• when your child is in the throes of unpleasantness and angry and surly from implemented consequences, do you try to make general conversation with them to lighten the mood or do you just ignore them and let them be miserable? (Carl tends toward the former and I tend toward the latter.)

It’s hard, people. Very hard.

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