The real torture for a parent starts long before school lets out for the holidays. The anticipation of that long awaited break is almost too much to bear for the child. But a long break from school, like the summer break… Please! Save me now!
Yes, after a solid year of hard-core academia, my children need a break to recharge their batteries, but must they really drive me crazy in the process. They sleep long hours, but insist on watching TV the moment they get up. They wear their pajamas all day, but mountains of laundry still topple out of their rooms. Heaven help me if I ask them to take their dirty dishes into the kitchen.
Conversation consists of a series of grunts or screaming tantrums, and the campaign of “I want” is nonstop. They never forget when their allowance is due, but you ask them to pay for that chocolate bar themselves and conveniently their wallet is empty. And the way siblings torture one another… I think all parents need to take a course on refereeing a Mortal Combat match.
It’s like someone has broken the “nice” switch such that it’s permanently on “evil lemon”. Can someone please explain to me how to fix this switch?
Granted this seems to be the way of teenagers, and I think I’ll be running for cover when my daughter actually starts experiencing PMS on a regular basis. Even the raging hormones of a teenage boy are almost more than I can handle at times. But add the hormone-driven mood swings to the pent-up energy of school holidays, compounded by the aftermath of Christmas and New Years… This parent wants to know where I can get off this crazy train.
Thankfully, in New Zealand, the summer holiday break is only six weeks, with schools throughout the country going back during the first week of February. So I don’t need to wait much longer, but school can not start soon enough.
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© Copyright, Judy L Mohr 2016