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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Family row scheduled for this afternoon - help me prepare myself

319 replies

Oakmaiden · 08/06/2020 10:56

This is not the way I would prefer to deal with this, but unfortunately my husband scheduled a family row (aka "We will discuss this tomorrow") with my teenage daughter. I need help to work out what we hope to achieve and what is reasonable to expect. Please.

The background: I am trying to keep this as brief as possible. DD is 16 and is currently (was, before everything shut down) being assessed for Autism. She also suffers from sometimes very bad depression and very high levels of anxiety. She is very bright (was hoping for straight A's for GCSEs, but with all that is going on, who can tell...) but her passion has always been for performing - she normally spends around 20 hours a week on top of her school week dancing/acting/singing etc.

Lockdown obviously changed her life dramatically. As well as an abrupt end to her schooling and the cancellation of several performances she had been working hard toward, her "extra curricula" life changed. Her dance, drama and singing lessons all went on line, so she could have continued them as normal, but she finds the online format very difficult, and says that she no longer feel as though she is being taught and corrected, merely given activities to do. She has stopped singing and drama completely, and goes to maybe 3 or 4 dance classes a week. At most. The rest of the time - she plays on the computer or sleeps.

And this is the source of most of the conflict - she plays a game with people in the States, so goes to bed at about 4am and gets up early afternoon. Yesterday we didn't see her until 6pm. She hasn't been outside since the week before lockdown (she was isolating the week before as she had mumps) except occasionally in the garden. Her contribution to the household is to cook one meal a week and wash up once a week (these are her official "tasks") which I don't think is very much, but she thinks is hugely unreasonable. Yesterday it was her turn to cook, and she decided to make macaroni cheese (which my husband can't eat as cooked cheese makes him ill) and refused to heat up a jar of ready made sauce alongside it for her father so he could eat.

And EVERYTHING we say to her she has a comeback for.

I want her to live more "UK centric" and sociable hours, to become more involved in preparing for her future and to help out a bit more. To lead a more normal life. She says she can't see what difference it makes to us, and we should leave her to do what makes her happy. DH wants to confiscate her computer.

Am I being unreasonable to want to make changes (I am willing to compromise, and in honesty her happiness IS very important to me) or should we just leave her to get on with it.

OP posts:
Ninkanink · 08/06/2020 13:12

Crossposted with OPs last comment.

Hugs. Parenting teenagers is hard at the best of times and with the very specific challenges we’re facing now it’s a very difficult time for many, many people.

@Oakmaiden if you haven’t yet asked MNHQ to move this to the SN topic you really must do so. It will be far more helpful to you.

MashedSpud · 08/06/2020 13:13

WiFi goes off at 11pm.

FabulouslyElegantTits · 08/06/2020 13:13

I have a NT 16 year old and they sound very similar! Their lovely friends are all in the same 'schedule' too.

The game and going to bed at 4am seems to be the 'thing' that they all do at the moment ✅

The absolute horror at being asked to do ANYThiNG ✅

Answer for everything ✅

Lots of people will be along to say (or probably already have, I've not RTFT) that this is disgusting and they would not stand for it - but this is teens! They're vile NT of non NT!

In my experience, if they have been decent, moral kids then they will come back and be lovely again.

The macaroni cheese thing sounds a bit spiteful and peevish though.

Keep the faith OP!

vanillandhoney · 08/06/2020 13:14

If she hasn't been diagnosed then I wouldn't make any "special needs" type allowances. She clearly functions perfectly well when she has things set up the way the she likes them!

Well, yes, of course she does. That's a HUGE part of having ASD...

ArchieStar · 08/06/2020 13:14

Not RTFT but all I will say from one ASD mum to another controlled choices are your friend!!

WhatsTheFrequencyKennneth · 08/06/2020 13:15

Compromise. Let her play til midnight and sleep til noon. Its a rubbish time for teens and a hard age to be even in normal circumstances.
If you go in too hard she'll shut down and the lines of communication will be closed.
Her behaviour is out of order but battling against her is the wrong route to take imo.

NewAccountForCorona · 08/06/2020 13:15

Oh dear, you don't have a dd problem. Or at least you have a small dd problem, you have a massive dh problem.

Your dd needs someone on her side. You have to stand up to your dh and make him think about what you actually want to achieve here.
Living with a miserable, anxious teenager is hard at the best of times; don't let him make things worse.

And talk to him about her A levels while you are at it. Is it better for her to do well doing what she wants to do, or failing your dh's more academic choices for her.

Dontfuckingsaycheese · 08/06/2020 13:16

"STOP using her non-existent diagnoses of autism as an excuse to justify your own lack of firm parenting.
You can be autistic and still NOT have the attitude your daughter has"

@monkeymonkey2010. You clearly know fuck all about autism. You're not my son's SENCO are you?? Before he moved to a school that actually had a clue about support SEN. The clue is in the name. NEEDS. You sound just like her. No fucking idea.

Ninkanink · 08/06/2020 13:16

@vanillandhoney yes, quite. It’s almost as if some people are pronouncing on something they have absolutely no understanding of. 🙄🙄

DancingFox · 08/06/2020 13:17

It's so hard, but she's still 16 and still needs you to set the standards.

4am bedtimes and 6pm getting up times is a very unhealthy pattern (excepting of course medical/work/illness/child related needs, before someone jumps on and says they keep those hours because of those reasons etc etc etc)

She probably needs fresh air and to move around to start with, you can drive for walks now at least. You can meet with other people outside, could she not meet up with a friend or two in the garden? Are there any hobbies you could start or encourage her with? Basically anything that is not to do with that screen.

Soubriquet · 08/06/2020 13:17

I went through a similar phase when I was a teenager.

Being on an American forum (RIP vampirefreaks) which meant I was doing stupid hours.

I was on her side until she refused to heat up a simple jar of sauce so dh could eat.

She needs to be punished yes, but I don’t think her computer should be taken away. It’s obviously her social life at the moment

Sirzy · 08/06/2020 13:17

The lack of routine and becoming nocturnal isn’t going to help her mental health, that’s a vicious circle which you need to work with her to break. That would be my starting point, get some structure into the day so she is up by 11 at the latest and build to doing things during the day with a realistic internet off time.

Oakmaiden · 08/06/2020 13:18

I couldn't imagine dealing with her issues in the way you propose OP I'm a bit shocked to be honest

I have posted on here about 4 times, not once. But anyway - I am not "proposing" dealing with it in any way. I am trying to get my head around the best way to deal with it. My husband suggested taking away her PC (she was only allowed it in her bedroom on the basis that it didn't interfere with the other things she was doing) but I haven't said that I support that or that it will happen. Just that it is a possibility.

I am reading every post and thinking about what is said. Some I am taking advice from, others I am capable of disregarding as not appropriate.

I didn't post this in the SN board as she hasn't been diagnosed (though, you know, 98% certain - both my boys are autistic too) but actually, I haven't raced to move it as there is lots of advice coming here - some of it clearly with sympathetic experience that is relevant. So it is kind of working for me here?

OP posts:
Oakmaiden · 08/06/2020 13:19

You have to stand up to your dh and make him think about what you actually want to achieve here.

That is exactly why I posted. I wanted help to think about what would be realistic expectations, and what I should just let go. Which I am getting - although there are a few strident voices, but I can cope with that.

OP posts:
Ninkanink · 08/06/2020 13:22

Ah ok so I think it might make it doubly hard for you to know how to proceed with her if you have autistic boys as well, since it often presents so differently in girls. Is this part of the problem with your DH? Does he just really not get that many things are likely very, very difficult for her to cope with, albeit in a different way?

I guess it’s up to you if you want this thread to stay here, it’s your prerogative of course. But it seems counterproductive to have at least 50% of answers being absolutely irrelevant, useless and highly likely to be damaging if put into action.

Anyway, I wish you well.

WhitbyGoth · 08/06/2020 13:22

Yabu, she is exactly like the majority of teenagers atm, no different. Confiscating her computer will alienate her even more. Try think back to what you were like as a 16 year old, difference being she is stuck in the middle of a pandemic where all normality has shifted. Leave her to navigate this her own way.

yelyah22 · 08/06/2020 13:22

Poor girl. She's socialising, effectively, on her games, and you want to take it away from her when everything else in her routine has been too - especially with a potential ASD diagnosis?

I agree she should be told in no uncertain terms that she has to contribute to household tasks, and if she's cooking then it should be something everyone can eat, but as someone who with ASD, taking away something I'd been enjoying (and filling my time with when my normal routine was disrupted) would cause me to spiral.

Regularsizedrudy · 08/06/2020 13:23

It sounds like she might have some resentment towards your husband? Hence not cooking the sauce for him, she has probably picked up on his disapproval of her academic choices. Even if you think it’s been kept from her I’m sure she gets that vibe. I think he sounds quite heavy handed... you need to approach her in a supportive way I.e how can you HELP her with her sleep pattern etc. Nobody LIKES waking up at 6pm it’s very depressing.

AnnaBanana333 · 08/06/2020 13:23

Noctural hours aren't at all bad for my mental health. Constantly having to get up when my body wants to be asleep is terrible for my health, however.

Blocking somebody from their only social contact outside the house is also terrible for their mental health.

Oakmaiden · 08/06/2020 13:23

The macaroni cheese thing sounds a bit spiteful and peevish though.

I actually don't think it was, entirely. I think in her head the macaroni cheese was all she could cope with. Whilst in my husband's head he cooks for everyone twice a week (at least) and her making something he couldn't eat was selfish - especially since she could have done extra pasta and just heated up a jar of sauce for him - and her refusal to do it meant that he had to go and cook as well or do without.

I can see both sides.

OP posts:
Regularsizedrudy · 08/06/2020 13:24

Also I have never met an adult who said “thank god my parents made me take maths a level instead of art, now I’m a brilliant mathematician!”

Sirzy · 08/06/2020 13:24

Can you make a meal plan together so everyone knows what they are cooking on their night and what is being cooked?

1forsorrow · 08/06/2020 13:26

differentnameforthis you missed or ignored the bit about her having to run it past her mother, not that the mother would force her to make a particular thing but that she has to come up with something everyone can eat. Unless her diet is so weird that other people can't eat it that shouldn't be difficult and if her diet is so weird that she can't come up with one meal the whole family can eat then her job for the week shouldn't be cooking a family meal as it is obviously something she can't do. Making a meal that she knows one member of the family can't eat isn't being helpful, in fact it is the opposite because it causes this sort of issue.

MahMahMahMahCorona · 08/06/2020 13:26

I didn't get up until 6pm on Saturday either.

My MH is shot to pieces and I'm a grown adult with DC of my own.

How on Earth I am to expect my NT DC to formulate a healthy and mature response to what's going on in the world around us let alone a DC with suspected ASD, I do not know.

Please don't take her computer away. This in a NT child may seem a rebellious response but you and your DH for the sake of your household and your other children need to work with your daughter - compromise, be gentle with her, perhaps a round table meeting after the initial one with your DH with the other siblings would be helpful. A sort of "we are all in this together - how can we manage it better?"

She needs you to be supportive and she needs to trust that you are listening to and hearing her. I know it must be hugely frustrating but being kind at this most unsettling time is really important. Don't let your (DH?) anger at the overall situation be entirely aimed at her - the fallout could potentially be unbearable.

Dontfuckingsaycheese · 08/06/2020 13:26

"If she hasn't been diagnosed then I wouldn't make any "special needs" type allowances. She clearly functions perfectly well when she has things set up the way the she likes them!"
😆😆😆 😔😔

This would be hilarious if it weren't so sad. Have you ANY idea how hard to even get as far as being referred to someone for diagnosis??

Educate yourselves people. Then you wouldn't sound so stupid uninformed.

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