Sons ... and Daughters!

As I write this I am wrestling with my conscience - dare I admit that I have a problem with my son?

I have been reassured that most lads go through this 'phase' (thanks buddy - you know who you are!) and so I know that I must persist but sometimes it's just so hard...

As a parent you want to give your child every opportunity but sometimes you know that they just don't deserve it - so what do you do?

Well today I denied my son the chance to go on a skating trip - skateboarding is his passion and he loves it - he has improved immensely since the summer when he started and he would have loved to go today but...

He has just been such a selfish, stubborn lad this last few weeks and I have had enough of giving and not receiving!

He gets his meals cooked without even having to wash pots afterwards, his clothes are washed and pressed and he can't be bothered to put them away, I asked him to wash the car but he refused, even saying that no amount of money would make him say yes! I asked him to sweep the leaves in the back garden but again he refused! He also gets regular lifts to skating trips... need I go on?

There is a new movie on at the cinema which we would all like to see and we agreed to go this afternoon - except that his refusal to help at home made me feel that he should not go. So we have all missed out!

My daughter has cottoned on to the 'just do it - you get less hassle' way of thinking and she is great - she even does stuff without being asked!!

Why don't boys work the same way??

So, when the skating invitation came I refused it and said he couldn't go!

I did feel bad - I hate depriving them of such oportunities - but he really has to start pulling his weight! Keeping a family home running is alot of work and it is not fair that he should have such high expectations without putting something back!

Anyway...

... tonight he came to me and said that he had thought about what I had said earlier and was sorry - he hugged me! I melted and then thanked him for his apology (quietly wondering how long it would last!).

10 minutes later he asked if we could all go to the cinema now?

Where's that wall...I may as well bang my head!!