Parenting 101 – ‘Am I the Worst Parent Ever?’

So...school has started.  There are pros and cons to that of course, especially if you have 4 kids.  I don’t think that I expect a whole lot as a parent, but I’m made to feel like I’m completely unreasonable.  I suppose that comes with the territory; Although, I was a saint as a teenager.

My teenage daughter has a bit too much of her father in her I think.  She tends to save things until the last minute.  She loses important papers.  Oh, and the world is completely against her.  I have the same rule for her that I have for my younger children who are in school: do your homework after school, do your chores (or in her case, ‘chore’) and then you can pretty much do what you want, within reason.

I get home from work around 7pm or so.  Mind you, my saintly wife not only takes care of this crew, but she also does the bulk of the housework AND holds down a business from home.  When I get home and my daughter comes home from the neighbors and tells me she still has to do her homework, I clench my fists.  Her reaction to my uproar is that “she never gets to have any fun or do what she wants.”

Are our ground rules unreasonable?  Do you have a better solution?  Do you want a teenager?  Tell me here.