Aye, Caramba! You might be a redneck if you wear a sombrero when you mow your lawn! LOL My hubby is such a hoot! I just had to post this pic. I've tried to post several other times in the past week, but it takes, literally, a minimum of 15 minutes for one pic to load. I hate dial-up. Argh.
Anyway, we went to the fair this week and had a great time! The kids loved the animals, and of course, the free rides. This was our 2nd year to go.
Ok...I need some advice....all moms listen up! I am truly struggling with my nearly 12 (sept.26) year old daughter. It seems her hormones are always raging from one extreme to another. I know we all say "I remember when", but this is really whacked. On top of it all, I have worked really hard to try to have a good relationship with all my daughters. It's been hard, considering my birth mother left the picture when I was 7 and my step-mother hated me. I spent my childhood locked up in my room. I remember going to friends' houses and longing for the parent/child, mother/child relationships that I saw. Anyway...so I've always wanted to give my daughters what I didn't have...a caring, involved mother. Only, my daughter and I.....I just don't even know how to describe it. I'm actually angry at this point...not in a raging kind of way...but in a "I don't know what else to do!" kind of way. I've read my Bible and prayed and read parenting books. Now I seek advice. She seems to misinterpret EVERYTHING that I say, and now it's spreading to even what my hubby says, too. She treats her younger sisters with more disrespect than I think I've ever seen! (Commanded them to let her stay in bed this morning "or else she'd be cranky" and then had one of them getting her church clothes out for her while she layed in bed!!!!!!) This is soooooo just the tip of the iceberg. AND SHE'S NOT EVEN A TEENAGER YET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She gives hateful, dirty looks to her father and I and her sisters, speaks with spiteful tones, reflects a horrible attitude (sometimes just down right snobby), and disobeys around every stinking corner! I mean, she's the oldest, and I have to call her out a 100x more in one day than I do her 10 and 4 yr old sisters. I would think that the oldest would be the best at minding...ya know, they've been around the longest, they should have the rules down pat. Our rules don't change because they revolve around the 10 commandments and the life principles given in the Bible. It seems like she used to be so sweet, and a perfectionist really, which I tried to discourage. Now she has days where it seems she tries to emotionally manipulate us to feel bad for her or pity her or something. HELP! HELP! HELP! I know these years will be hard, and I've been telling myself that and preparing for them for the last couple of years really. But I have to say....this is blowing me way out of the water and I'm at a total and complete loss as to how to handle it or what to do. I don't want to spend the next 6 years doing battle and growing away from my daughter. I see moms/daughters out there (teens) with great relationships...what's the secret??? Somebody please help me! :-}