I have 13 and 16 year old daughters. We live a comfortable life and run our butts off for our kids. If its not going to Youth, friends, the dam for the day and the mall. We are a little strict with regards to piercings and hair colouring and also staying out too late. But really not extreme. My husband and I hardly argue and do lots of homework with kids. Meals are eaten together and that's when we chat about our days. Yet my teenagers have child welfare on speed dial and show no respect with regards to keeping their rooms clean. My 13 year old is also boy mad and always on mix it. I truly just throw my hands in the air. Cant fight this fight anymore. What next???

What a fabulous idea. My kids would be most shocked if I told them that supper was their problem. Im sure they are at an age where they can cook a meal anyway. They explained the child welfare story away, so thats explained, but still, they need to pull their weight. Just want happy healthy kids who can be grateful for what they have. I do love them so very much and had them so young so they really are my whole entire world. Maybe thats part of the problem.

ek weet rerig nie wat dit met vandag se tieners is nie, alles word vir hulle gedoen maar dit is nooit goed genoeg nie. Waar is die dae wat ons geweet het van ons ouers respekteer vir dit wat hulle vir ons doen. As vandag se tieners net wil besef dat hulle ook groot word en hopenlik ook ouers gaan wees. Sal hulle wil hê dat hulle kinders dit aan hulle doen wat hulle aan hulle ouers doen.

Ek is vir die 2de keer getroud en my man se oudste dogter het besluit pa is nie meer goed nie nadat hy sy lewe lank vir hulle gesorg het. Wie was daar vir hulle toe hulle ma nie gedink het hulle is belangrik nie. Kinders wat dink dit is better om sonder reels in hulle lewe groot te word maak die grootste fout van hulle lewe. Hoe kan jy selfrespek hê as jy nie eers disipline in jou lewe kan toepas nie. Ek hoop net dat my man se dogter besef waarmee sy besig is voordat dit te laat is.


Kinders besef net asb. ouers is nie daar om opgetrap te word en dan eenkant gegooi te word nie, plaas jou slag in hulle skoene en dan dink julle weer waarmee julle besig is. Veral die wat so vir julle sorg en vir julle daar is as julle hulle nodig het.

Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum, but have a 15 (almost 16) year old stepdaughter. She lives with us and only visits her mother occasionally. Anyhow, we get along fine and in most instances I really enjoy having her as part of the family. However, the whole "keeping your room clean" is a stretch. She treats our domestic as her own personal slave, sulks when she has to do dishes and never lifts her hand to help clean the house over weekends.

Yet she tells us that we make her life miserable and that we are "evil" because we refused to let her date a 19 year old. And the mixit thing. Don't even get me started. They spend more time on there than they do in school. We've limited her use and she only chats to people she knows (apparently). I have no reason not to trust her so I'm holding thumbs.

But yeah - raising a teen is hell. Then to make matters worse we have a 7 year old son and she reminds me often that he gets more attention, more time, more everything...

I realise that this comment is a bit late, but surely hope that someone will reply and give advice. I am new on Parent24. My daughter (14) will probably hate us forever if we totally block Mxit. She is very secretive and does not keep to any rules in this regard.

She got a new Chatterbox phone in April 2009, but it already had its first swim in June and is out of order. She claims it fell out of her pocket into water and she could not prevent it. That is after the previous phone also fell in the bath. The one before that was handled so rough, she had to throw it on the floor to get it working. The one before that, I cannot even remember what treatment the poor thing had to go through.

We are refusing to pay for the repair, if possible, of the Chatterbox. We are also refusing to get her a new phone. I also refuse her requests to Mxit on my phone, mostly because I am afraid she will destroy my phone as well. My husband prefers his old phone which cannot Mxit.

So, she is currently using in desperation another old phone, which she holds together with a rubber band, the screen is so bad that she can almost not read on it. But she is still on Mxit.

I just received my mother-in-law's telephone account, where my daughter visited this past holiday. For the first few days, she phoned her friends, adding at least R450-00 to the bill. We have to wait for the next account to see the totla damage. We told her that she will have to pay for that and we will deduct at least R200 per month form her R600 pocket money. She claims that we do not want to replace her phone and thus she has a right to chat on the phone. Remember that she also has R135 worth of airtime per month on our contract.

Are we wrong not to replace her phone? The rest of the story is that she hates us and wants to leave as soon as she is old enough. But I will talk about that later.

Any advice????

I agree that giving them a little more responsibility is a good idea. It will make them feel more involved and should cure them of their self-importance but quick.

yea!!!
give us a chance for gods sake!!!!

Perfect answer. Remember guys they are kids JUST kids who are they to undermine you as a parent? Ask yourself
'Who is the adult here?'

VERY mature - I suspect you tell your parents the same thing... 'cause an adult is one thing you're not!

For your information - this forum is called PARENT24 - not CHILD24 - so go and do your homework, like a good little child should, and let the grown-ups speak. When you're all grown up one day, and you have children of your own, then we'll allow you to tell us what you think you know something about.