Laying Down the Law

The continuing saga of one woman’s struggle to lead a normal family life!

"It's like living in a police state, living here", my 15-year-old son screamed as he stormed out of the room. The event that had sparked this explosion of anger had been a simple question about what time he thought he might be back from a party, but apparently, in his eyes, such queries turned me into some kind of evil dictator.

Sadly, this wasn't the first time he'd made his feelings about being asked questions – or being interrogated, as he puts it – clear to me. As he probably knows all too well, his hysterical use of language never fails to annoy me - and yes, before you ask, I have tried discussing it with him. I've pointed out, for instance, that if he really were living in a police state, he'd be under constant surveillance for a start - we'd have CCTV set up in his bedroom and his phone calls, texts and e-mails would be constantly monitored; he'd be stopped and searched on a regular basis and he might well have been arrested by now and perhaps even tortured on suspicion of subversive activities! Of course, none of this makes any difference to him. He is, after all, 15 and I, after all, am his mother!

This latest incident, though, did get me thinking. If he's always going to accuse me of being a dictator, I might as well start acting like one. Maybe then he'll appreciate how soft I've been up till now: from now on, I am going to punish all the 'household crimes' he has been getting away with for so long.

No longer will I tolerate my son stealing the small change from my bedside table; never again will I turn a blind eye as he smuggles girlfriends into the house in the evening; and no more will we put up with him emotionally blackmailing us. I am sick and tired of being told that he wishes he'd never w been born when he doesn't get what he wants or that he won't be able to study unless he's allowed to spend a weekend away with his friends!

In fact, now I come to think of it, far from being the poor oppressed victim he claims to be, my son has been allowed to get away with murder. Maybe it's because I vowed never to subject him to the kind of strict discipline my parents subjected me to or simply because I am the product of a fairly liberal age, but I've generally avoided anything approaching rules - and look where it has got me!

From now on, I'll bу laying down the law. Any minor offences will be met with appropriate penalties. First, there'll be a curfew, then seven days' detention. Later we may well move onto the confiscation of personal property such as iPods and TVs. Finally, there'll be perhaps the worst kind of torture a 15-year-old can imagine: any girls foolish enough to visit will be dragged into the front room and shown pictures of our darling son as a child. That should surely be enough to make him change his ways!

Дата добавления: 2014-12-29