BLOG #4 GROUNDHOG DAY

GROUNDHOG DAY

Same shit, Different day!

Yep, that's precisely how it can get. We wake the teenagers up, feed them, clothe them and send them off to school or work. Then we do all of our shit; it's time to pick them up. They eat, shower, watch TV and sleep. The cycle continues. FML!!

We all have them; most days, we feel like all we do is we wake up and do the same fucking thing, day in and day out. It feels like nothing ever changes. We repeat the exact words, and the teenagers are grumpy, moody, and mumbling the same incoherent shit, they were yesterday. Sound familiar?

Believe me; the same shit goes on in my house.

SLIGHT DIFFERENCE

There is a slight difference, though. I am lucky enough to have my three teenage girls (especially Miss R and Miss S). They are more than capable of getting themselves up, dressed, ready, dishes done, and animals fed and let outside before they come to wake me up and let me know that they need to leave for school soon.

I was that “mean mum” that made them get up to their alarm. I took them to school in their pyjamas because they would not get dressed on time and, I've always made them eat breakfast. If they were running late, I would not write a note, and they would have to explain at the office themselves why they were late. I never made lunches as it was always something we did together, then one day, they just wanted to do it on their own. Don't come home to me saying you’re hungry if there's food in your lunch box. You packed it, so what was wrong with eating it? I made them change when they got home, and I made them repack their bags completely and be organised. It almost sounds horrible, but now I have efficient, organised and independent teenagers.

It's all about our habits and situations. We set ourselves up in the same routines every day, and we pass these 'qualities' on to our children. We all have different ways of raising our children and if you like making their lunches, then stick with that. I know parents that if they didn't get up and wake their teenagers, they would never go to school. Each and every household is different. But we all do have one thing in common, Groundhog Day!

ABSOLUTELY, I HAVE THE ULTIMATE GROUNDHOG DAYS!

For me, this usually occurs on the weekends and especially on the holidays. It does my fucking head in; I do not understand it at all.

How do teenagers manage to sleep all fucking day?

It's like a part of their brain suddenly tells them to be awake all night, then to sleep all day. They were resulting in the fact that they then get nothing done. Teenagers will whinge and whine that there's nothing to do, no food to eat, and they have an assignment due tomorrow (that they haven't even started). It's my fault because they have to stay up all night and get up the following morning to go to school. They complain that they will be tired and fall asleep in class, it's my fault somehow (fucked if I know), and the cycle continues.

I mean, are these teenagers for real? Sleeping half the fucking day away seems to be the norm in this house, does my bloody head in! I wake up at 6 am every day to do all the housework and sort shit out for the day. I have a coffee, write and then it's lunch. Not one single sign of a teenage life form have I seen or heard from until I've cleaned the kitchen and the lounge, then they appear. Walk-in, fuck shit up and make a mess, then leave. They wonder why I lose my shit at them, and then they tell me to take a chill pill.

My frustration is sometimes building. I think I'd be better off having a conversation with the dog or the cat, possibly even the lizard! They will hibernate in their bedrooms and come out for food and water. Perhaps a grunt here and there, but then back to the cave of wonders. To sit, to look on their phones, laptops and do whatever the fuck it is that they do in there. They complain that there's nothing to do, they are 'bored'. I tell them that I can give them a list of shit to do if they like, as I seem to be busy all day and don't even have time to get 'bored'. I get the famous 'eye roll', then they stalk off down the hallway. Probably mumbling to themselves, telling me to fuck off. I mean, I know they have growing brains and require loads of sleep and all that bullshit, but they're like some nocturnal creature. What the fuck? Every day, really?

PRIVILEGED

Being a teenager with so many privileges must be hard for them—what a crock of shit. I've created my bunch of spoilt little brats. (Yes, I'm aware that I did it!) I'm one of those 'mum's' where there's a build-up of frustration brewing. All at once, a minor incident will set me off on a rant, and I'll be fucking telling them all what I think. Everyone moves quickly for some reason. I wonder why? Then on the other end of the scale, if I'm so fucked off that I become utterly silent, you know damn well that I'm fucking angry and that it is the worst type of anger. They sense it, and they can probably feel my vibes emanating through solid walls. This is when everyone moves around me, and shit starts getting done without a word being said; they know that it will be an epic explosion if I speak, and nobody wants to see that shit go down. We all have our limits, and I'd like to think that I'm relatively relaxed and chill most of the time.

As I said, we all create our own set of circumstances from our routines and habits. On the weekends and during the holidays, I wake up early, and during the school terms, I don't. My teenagers mimic this and go to the ultimate extreme on weekends and holidays. What can I say, other than none of us is perfect?

We are all raising human beings. Once they were small and littler and hung onto every word we had to say, now they wished we would just shut up hahahahahahaha.

Keep your head up, peeps, you are doing a great job of raising human beings in this ever-evolving world of craziness, and we're all in it together.

Cheers Odette Cygnet xxx