The Problem With Younsters These Days

WARNING: The below is of a "venting" nature and is not intended to be taken personally. Additionally, rhetorical questions are NOT meant to be answered.

I am a stay at home mom....a Domestic Engineer.......or the CFO (Chief Family Officer) of a five person firm. Even though I went to college with the dreams of being an Anesthesiologist, have two degrees, and worked for a short time in the corporate world, I have never once regretted my decision to stay home, nor yearned for a career life outside of the home with "the real world."

As all moms know, it's tough. Some say it's the hardest job there is. Certain days, yes, it can be. Over the last few months, yes, it certainly has been for me.

I have a hypothesis as to why this is happening with my two older children. It's generational. That's the best I can come up with after contemplating what we can do differently.

My children have behaved as of late as if they are being raised by the type of parents who don't give a you-know-what. You know what I mean....the type that let their kids do whatever they want, watch as much TV as they want, eat as much junk as they want, talk back and however to whomever they want, etc. Understandably, children with "who cares" parents have a reason for their behavior because they don't have rules or ways after which to model their life. I feel sorry for those kids. But mine are the opposite in terms of the parenting they receive. We are almost, at times, too hard on them in an effort to instill in them good manners, values, and learned lessons. By no means are we perfect parents, but we try really hard to be good ones.

So why is it that they behave so opposite to what we try to teach them? I know an easy answer is their age....yes, a 5 and 3 year old are testing us, learning who they are, whatever. There is room for that. I don't expect my kids to be perfect.

However, I do expect them to acknowledge and respect their parents regardless of their age. I've discussed this with my parents and in-laws, and both swore we were never like that. I would have never talked to my parents the way my children speak to me sometimes, yet they didn't have to spank me or threaten me in any way....I just behaved.

Therefore, hence my theory that it must be innately in their generational disposition....

or possibly in their individual disposition...

but definitely not in their genetic disposition.

Blake and I were both Angels.

Perfect. Angels.