Please welcome Beth to Meno Mama's site today with lots of comment love. Thanks!
WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH KIDS TODAY?
While
these lyrics were written over 55 years ago, there's no arguing they
still hold true today...well, except us parents thinking we were
really all that perfect. But still, there's no denying, the problems
seem to be exponentially greater than previous generations.
Can
I hear a hell ya?????
Don't
leave me hanging people.
Anyway, a
recent conversation with my daughter went something like this:
Daughter: Hey,
I just thought I'd let you know that my wallet was stolen and
the AMEX card I have that is connected to your account was in it.
Me: Did
you call AMEX and report it as stolen?
Daughter: No,
that's why I'm calling you.
Me: I
gave you the card because I consider you responsible enough to manage
all aspects of it and that does include calling to report it stolen.
Daughter: I'm
really busy.
Me: And
so am I. Make the call.
Daughter: I've
never called AMEX before.
Me: There's
a first time for everything. By the way, when was it stolen?
Daughter: Yesterday.
Me: Seriously?
Why didn't you call yesterday?
Daughter: I
told you I'm really busy.
Me: You
do understand that in the past 24 hours the person that stole it may
have charged a bazillion things?
Daughter: What
do people like in omelets?
Me: What?
Daughter: I'm
in charge of craft services this week, I'm at the grocery store and
need to get stuff to make omelets.
Me: I
think we're done...love you, bye bye
A
few days later my son finally sat down to write his thank you cards
for the graduation gifts he received and this conversation took
place...
Son: How
do you address an envelope?
Me: You're
kidding right?
Son: No,
can't you just tell me without making a big deal about it.
Me: You're
kidding right?
Son: Mom!
Me: Son!
Son: Mom
stop!
Me: No
you stop!
Son: Oh
my G-d you're ridiculous
Me: No
you're ridiculous
Yep, call
me crazy but...I
could have continued that forever.
However,
at some point I did actually stop and started to feel like I have
totally failed as a parent. I mean if my 21 year old daughter doesn't
know how to call a credit card company and my 18 year old son doesn't
know how to address an envelope I need to seriously re-evaluate what
exactly it was that I was doing with them all of these years.
I
know they are both really smart and I'm not sharing these
stories to embarrass them, but attention to the common sense details
of life just seem to be escaping their entire generation. I suppose
one could argue that there will come a point in time when their smart
phones will be so smart that they won't have to worry about such
mundane tasks and everything will magically happen for them thanks
to some app created, no doubt, by a 16 year old. For now,
though, what's
a mother to do?
Well,
this mom usually ends up...
#1
- Counting to 10 or practicing some serious yoga
breathing whenever one of my kids asks me to help them with
something I think they are more than capable of handling but clearly
are looking for me to just deal with it. This usually leads to...
#2
- Inserting humor...well, more like sarcasm...into the
situation. In my mind, most of these moments call for
laughter. My kids, however, tend not to appreciate my sense of
humor/sarcasm which means they press on and I'm left with...
#3
- Looking at the clock to determine if it is too early for
alcohol. That doesn't really help them much but at that point,
I'm good.
Look,
I was raised to be a very independent, stand on my own two feet kind
of gal. My parents were relatively hands off until it was really
obvious I had run out of options for how to maneuver my way through a
particular situation. It has, I believe, served me very well in
life. I tried to more or less raise my kids the same way.
Society,
though, has messed with that plan big time.
The
sense of entitlement surrounding my children's generation is
astounding and the overwhelming number of distractions that take
them away from dealing with a task at hand is absurd to say the
least. I'm not sure any amount of deep breathing, witty
comebacks or it's
5 o'clock somewhere behavior
will solve the problem. Unfortunately, I don't have the answers and
feel like I am left with just crossing my fingers so tightly I am
cutting off my circulation.
A
week before the conversation with my daughter, I witnessed the
filming of her senior thesis. I've mentioned before in a
previous blog that
she is a student at Florida
State's Film School,
a very intense and highly competitive program. I have listened
to countless conversations about the grueling schedule and demands,
seen the end result in her sophomore and junior year projects, but
being on set with her for 3 days watching her take control of a crew
of about 30 other film students, actors and volunteers? I
was blown away!
And
yet the conversation about her wallet still happened a week later.
I
had dinner with a friend the other night and as I shared my feelings
with her about these types of situations, here's the
conversation that pursued...
Friend: How
many times have you found yourself without any toilet paper after
you've already gone to the bathroom and how does it make you feel?
Me: Ummm...where's
this going?
Friend: Think
about it...no amount of shaking, jiggling, whatever is going to make
you feel good about the situation you are in.
Me: Uh
huh
Friend: So
what do you do?
Me: Yell
to my husband to bring me another roll.
Friend: But
what if he's not around?
Me: Swear
at myself for not looking before I sat down.
Friend: Exactly
but hopefully not make the same mistake repeatedly right?
Me: One
would hope.
Friend: Bottom
line, most young adults aren't going to realize just how important it
is to take care of the little things until they really are left to
their own devices. If your daughter's wallet ever gets lost or stolen
again, she'll probably call you again until everything in her wallet
is hers and hers alone. Your son, on the other hand, will no doubt
remember now how to address an envelope.
Me: Again,
one would hope.
Until
then, I have alcohol ;)
That's
it for now...#BlackerOut!
***WANT MORE MENO MAMA?? This week you can catch my featured posts on Mock Mom: http://mockmom.com/mom-discovers-how-to-annoy-tweens-in-10-easy-steps/ and Better After 50: http://betterafter50.com/2015/08/a-mothers-advice-to-her-son-on-the-eve-of-his-departure-for-college/
BIO:
Beth Blacker is the Director of Strategic Relationships and Community Outreach for OJ Mortgage in Clearwater, FL. She also considers herself a networking "maven" and strives to help every business person she connects with grow and succeed. A native Michigander (Go Blue!), she has lived in NYC where she pursued a career in food service, Louisville where she pursued a Southern accent and now currently lives in Tampa where she just wants to snuggle with her rescue Beagle, Gavin, and have a glass of wine at the end of the day. Oh and she has two kids who are both in college (Go Empty Nesters!) plus her man child husband who really keeps her on her toes. Her blog, Beth Blacker...Call Me Crazy, is her way to keep everything in her life a little more real one day at a time. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest,Instagram and LinkedIn. And you can also find her on Google+ but not that often even though she has been told repeatedly how much it will help with SEO.
***WANT MORE MENO MAMA?? This week you can catch my featured posts on Mock Mom: http://mockmom.com/mom-discovers-how-to-annoy-tweens-in-10-easy-steps/ and Better After 50: http://betterafter50.com/2015/08/a-mothers-advice-to-her-son-on-the-eve-of-his-departure-for-college/
