Whoever tells us that ‘no matter what you do, teenagers are Hell’ lie. My teenagers have been a breeze. Thing is, if you make an enemy of your child, your life gets worse as they grow in knowledge and power. Powerful enemies are a bad thing indeed.
Turning that equation over, if you have someone in your life that makes your life harder as they learn and grow, that must be one of a number of things, in two catagories:
1. They are NOT learning, perhaps in the case of a special needs child, or perhaps you are trying to make a pet out of an undomesticated animal, a chimp, or a large predator, like a bear or a big cat.
2. If it’s really true that it’s a fully-abled human being and they ARE learning – you have, intentionally or not, made an enemy of them rather than a friend. That’s what punishing does. I know it’s not what you wanted it to do, I know it’s not why you do it – but that’s what it does.
But if your FRIENDS grow in knowledge and power, life just keeps getting easier, and that’s how it’s been with my kids, easier the older they get.
Abuse with an Excuse 