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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

A freaking miracle!

20 replies

elliemillie · 09/02/2019 19:25

This is a long one!
On monday I cleaned my 14 year old DD's room. We have mice as a result of her keeping left over food, bottles cups, pizza boxes etc under her bed.
I also discovered she and her boyfriend smoke weed and put the butts on the floor behind her bed. For a carpeted room, the risk of a fire resulting from that is high.

I expected her to be grateful. She was enraged. She called me all sorts of names under the sun. Said cleaning her room had made her mental health problems worse and hit me.
At that point I asked STBXH to take her to his for a while. He waltzed into the house and behaved as if DDs behaviour was normal. And in true avoidance style bought a ticket for her to go stay over at her boyfriends. Obviously didn't want to deal with the problem.

It is probably the hardest decision I had ever made. But I have tried everything with her and things just kept getting worse and worse. I cried a lot and couldn't eat for a couple of days but I had to hold my nerve as usually I give in to the tantrums and she just does worse next time.

Then she called and apologised for hitting me and said she didn't want to stay with her dad. I went to pick her up from boyfriend's yesterday and so far she seems a different person. The usual rudeness is gone and she offered to do things round the house.

It's a bloody miracle. I can't believe it

OP posts:
elephantoverthehill · 09/02/2019 19:31

I have also found the threat of going to live with their Dad has worked well with teenagers. I actually carried it out once and the Dad said he can stay for the weekend but he is not living with us! I think the scales fell from Ds's eyes from that day. I hope the new attitude lasts for your Dd.

EdWinchester · 09/02/2019 19:35

She's 14 and smokes weed with her boyfriend in her bedroom?

AnyFucker · 09/02/2019 19:37

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

elliemillie · 09/02/2019 19:38

elephantoverthehill its such a difficult thing to do as it feels like kicking them out but I think the scales did fall for mine too. She was sure I will put up with everything she threw at me.

I won't ever do it again but hopefully now, she knows I capable of doing it abd it's not just an empty threat

OP posts:
brizzledrizzle · 09/02/2019 19:41

@anyfucker

Are you actually able to parent this child ? confused

Are you actually able not to deliberately try to make people feel worse?

elliemillie · 09/02/2019 19:44

Anyfucker yes she has.
Her boyfriends mum apparently smokes with them when she goes to his too. I am not that cool obviously.

I used to be scared of her reaction. She has taken overdoses in the past because I told her off. The police and therapist said it was better for her to smoke at home than outside where I didn't have a clue where she physically was( she used to run away)

I have another teenager who is nothing like this and has reached 18 this year without major drama. So I am not entirely sure it's my parenting. But then again I must be a shit parent to be scared of my 14 year old. I am not sure actually

OP posts:
AnyFucker · 09/02/2019 20:03

Something has gone badly wrong here Sad

I presume she is having a sexual relationship with this boyfriend. How old is he ?

elliemillie · 09/02/2019 20:18

Anyfucker I know something has gone badly wrong. Espescially because I have another teen who is nothing like this.

The boy is 17. When they started going out I told the police. All they did was carry out checks on him.
Again her therapist though it was an improvement on her meeting random boys on yubo and disappearing.

So this boy comes to our house and I know they have sex and have had conversations with both of them about it. I didn't get a chance with any boy from the dating app. The GP put her on the pill after having a chat with us both.

It's all very confusing for me because she is under 16. But none of the professionals we have seen have expressed the amount if shock I felt when I found out. The priority is keeping her alive.

And no she didn't have a traumatic childhood we can blame it on.

OP posts:
AnyFucker · 09/02/2019 20:21

I don't think you are getting enough help

Fucking permissive therapists and police.

I presume they put this down to her "lifestyle choices". It's really not ok.

MrsChollySawcutt · 09/02/2019 20:22

I'm not sure that paying for a 14 year old to travel to sleep overnight with her boyfriend in a house where his mother is providing them both with drugs is going to be seen by her as much of a punishment.

I fear you are just making a different (and even more dangerous) rod for your own back.

Grounding her would seem more appropriate to me. Do you have any relatives that live a good couple of hours away or more who could provide a few weeks respite and put some distance between your DD and the BF?

elliemillie · 09/02/2019 20:30

Well we live in London. Teenagers being in gangs, knife crime and dealing is more worrying than a 14 year old teenager having sex I think.

I have been told several times she will do it with or without my consent by everyone concerned. I am supposed to be grateful she is doing it safely in my house.

I can't even begin to tell you how hard it has been for me to accept that. But when the options are either accepting her having sex or dealing with suicide attempts, I chose the former.Sad

OP posts:
elliemillie · 09/02/2019 20:32

MrsChollySawcutt

I am not sure that is a punishment I have tried....

OP posts:
brizzledrizzle · 09/02/2019 21:25

Grounding her would seem more appropriate to me

How do you do that then? Lock them in their room?!

I've never been a fan of grounding because home should be somewhere they want to be not forced to be.

MrsChollySawcutt · 09/02/2019 21:46

No you don't lock her in but you definitely don't enable her with money and tickets to her boyfriends house where she is doing drugs!

If she absconds then you report her missing.

ShelleyMae · 09/02/2019 21:58

I’m really happy for you 😀

I live in hope I too will experience a miracle with my DS 13

ivykaty44 · 09/02/2019 22:05

Op

Sounds like you’ve had your work cut out and your ex has done diddly squat.

Perhaps you have turned a corner op as her attitude has changed for now, long may it last. Don’t be to afraid to pull on the reins again but I wouldn’t shorten them as there a difference and it can backfire.

As for anyfucker 😶

elliemillie · 10/02/2019 06:14

MrsChollySawcutt
I have never sent DD to her boyfriends house as a punishment. You made that part upHmm

Or you are confusing STBXH's behaviour with mine.

She is taller and much bigger than me, she just walks out when I ground her and makes a point of staying out.

And yes I have reported her missing in the past.
Nowadays I have a tracker on her phone so at least I know where she is at all times and I am not wasting police resources.

OP posts:
ShelleyMae · 10/02/2019 09:14

Elliemillie- would you mind me asking about the tracker on the phone? I have similar problems with my son disappearing.

We all have I phones and use the find friends app, but he knows this and turns his data off so his location is unavailable.

He is totally possessive of his phone and won’t let anyone touch it let alone the pass code, so we have a bit of a challenge on our hands! Just wondered if there was such a tracker out there we could somehow put on his phone?

Thank you

elliemillie · 10/02/2019 09:30

ShellyMae the tracker I use is a bit controversial and was a last ditch attempt. She doesn't know it's there. I bought her a new phone and put it on before I gave it to her. It's here spyfone.com

I haven't told her it's on as my intention is to have her safe and to know where she is rather than to as a tool for punishment and spying. It's possible to enable other features like logging social media activity etc but I don't do this. I can see her surroundings from my phone so that's enough when I get paranoid she has gone out and hanged herself or something. I worry about an Amber Peat type incident when she gets into her rages and low moods

OP posts:
ShelleyMae · 10/02/2019 09:47

Thank you Ellie that sounds very sensible. Contraversial or not, your child’s safety trumps everything else. You’ve done the right thing.

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