July 15, 2007

Sunday Morning Vent

I have to get this off my chest in hopes that you parents out there will have some kind of advice for me.

Son is, as you know, almost eight years old, but I swear he's turning into a teenager already. Lately he's been acting like a spoiled jerk who I don't like very much, which does not bode well for the rest of his youth.

I can, honestly, trace this behavior back to when he got back from spending a week with my parents. Being normal grandparents, they spoiled my younglings rotten. Daughter missed Husband and I, and wanted to come home, but Son would have been as happy as a pig in mud to stay up there forever.

Because Grandma and Grandpa drop everything and cater to Son's every whim, that's why. Would you want to leave something like that?

Long story short, now it's as if Son expects ME to drop everything and cater to him. Just the other day he had asked if we could go rent video games at Blockbuster, and I gave him the answer I always got: "We'll see." But I thought, well, he's got allowance saved up, maybe we can go tomorrow.

Later that day Son burst into tears when I told him he could play video games. His reason? He doesn't like any of the video games we have! It was then that I realized he expected me to drop what I was doing and run him in to town to rent games.

Well, I told his seven-year-old self that I'm not here to entertain him and cater to him, that I had just spent over $100 buying him books and taking him to the library!

After being yelled at by him all day yesterday, I finally told him that he's not at Grandma's anymore, that his arse better straighten up, or the next time he pulls that behavior, he's going to start losing his stuff. All those books he had to have, all those toys he had to have, no more library, no fun stuff for the rest of the summer.

I'm sick of it! And I'm considering homeschooling??

It is entirely too early for this kind of behavior.

Advice is most certainly welcome!!