It’s a Long, Downhill Slide From Here on Out
By Glinda
At least, that’s what I hear.
My nine year old son, though I love him dearly, has become a serious pain in the boot-ay. He doesn’t listen, he enjoys a bathroom humor a bit too much and at totally inappropriate times, has started talking back more, is maddeningly lazy, and is unable to interact with his sister without making her cry.
Sigh.
I’m told it’s fairly normal nine year old boy behavior, but I am already completely ready to sell him to the circus. OK, if they just offered to take him off my hands, I’d totally consider it.
I was talking to a friend of mine whose son just turned thirteen, and when I complained about the Munchkin (who is not so Munchkin-y anymore) she just laughed the hearty laugh of someone who knows that the worst is yet to come. For both of us.
We figured I’ve got at least ten years of frustration in store for me, and offered her bar-tending services should I ever need them.
Yeah, tomorrow sounds good.
March 20th, 2012 at 3:00 pm
With a 10 YO and a 13YO I am right there. I mean right. there. The good news is that it goes in manageable stages. Much like the stages of toddlerhood, when they start doing something maddening and just when you start thinking you don’t know how much more you can take, they hit another milestone and become darling again? It’s the same. It’s just the older they get, the harder the stages get because they talk back a lot more and they think they know everything. Trade off? Truely adult conversations that make you wonder at the gift of this child you’ve been given. Take the bright spots where they come. And a lot of wine after they go to bed. 🙂
March 21st, 2012 at 5:27 pm
Yep. Mine has been trying out contrarian and lazy and defiant for a while, but then he knows enough to spice it up with sweet and funny and loveable, which makes it all the more maddening! Thankfully, he seems to be moving on to the next phase, which I recall is suuuuuper sweet (my daughter hit it at 10). Knowing that it’s all stages makes it much easier for me to handle somehow. Never let them see you sweat!