Junior makes a cup of tea.
I walk into the kitchen a minute later.
Cupboard doors still open, torn remains of tea bag sachet on counter, box of tea sitting randomly on counter, sugar container left on bench etc etc.
I tell Junior to come back and clean up after himself.
Grump, grump, grump, off he goes.
20 minutes later, he makes a 2nd cup.
I go into the kitchen. Cupboard doors open, remains of tea bag sachet on counter, box of tea left out, sugar still on bench etc etc.
Junior gets told a 2nd time.
Response: "Why are you always telling me to do things? I hate it!" (another variation is, "I know what to do - stop telling me what to do all the time").
"Well, if you cleaned up after yourself, like you are supposed to, I wouldn't have to tell you to do it, would I?"
Unfortunately, that astounding logic has not penetrated his teenage brain covering.
The more I think about it, the more I reckon the voting age should be lifted to 30.
He's currently in that state of mind where he likes to do the pleasurable things in life - the fun and interesting things - but is totally uninterested in lifting a finger to do the unpleasant, dirty and difficult tasks. Like cleaning up after himself. I know he will snap out of it one day (or, pending that, J will beat him out of it), but it makes me wonder about the welfare mentality where people carry on at age 45 for instance like they did when they were 12. They refuse to accept that as an adult, you have adult responsibilities - the welfare state allows them to dump those responsibilities on their "parents" (ie, the taxpayer).
Junior still expects that someone else will clean up after him - us, the house fairy, whatever. He thinks he can just drop his dirty socks on the floor, and they will reappear magically in his sock drawer some time later, clean, dry and folded. The bit in the middle - usually known as "work" - is an alien concept to be avoided at all costs; and if forced to undertake it, it should be done as slowly as possible, with the maximum amount of complaining about "rights" and other such nonsense.
It's no wonder I was packed off to boarding school by my parents. So much less stressful to just avoid your kids until they turn 20 or so, and become reasonably sentient humans.
3 comments:
LOL Sounds like friends' teenagers.
When I worked in a university residential college the students used to come to me for laundry tokens. They were only allowed four at a time because some used to hoard them and at the end of semester we'd be running low on tokens (heaven only knows what they did with them, most of them would reappear eventually, stashed in rooms vacated over the mid year break).
One day two boys came in in the mid-semester break. One of them asked for tokens and asked if he could have more than the allowance, it had been wet and muddy and he'd been on the skills course (fencing, etc.). I told him I could only give him the regulation four because if I gave him more I would be in trouble as I put six in his hand. I asked his mate if he wanted any tokens and he said "No. I'm going home and and taking my washing for mum to do."
I said "Oh, gee. You know I'll bet your parents sent you to boarding school."
He was surprised and said "Yes."
I said "Yes. Well, It's probably not because they don't like you, it's to have a rest from all the work you make."
Token boy had a good laugh about it.
When I was at Uni, I always took my washing home to Mum. Isn't that what Mum's are for? Only chicks did it themselves.
Readers will be happy to know that Boy does most of our laundry now and beware the day he ever suggests that only "chicks" do some things. I can be very scary. J xo
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