I love my mom, and I want to spend time with her, but not only on her terms. My mom took me back-to-school shopping for clothes, but I wanted to be with my friends that day. She wants me to do what she wants, when she wants. She doesn’t understand that things are different for me now.
I’m older, I have a lot of friends, and we all work. When my friends and I can get together, we have to make it happen or we can’t see each other because of everyone’s work schedule. But my mom wants her schedule to be more important than mine.
I Get Mad
When this kind of thing happens, I get mad and lose my temper. I don’t yell, but I feel like I just want to be away from her, and that hurts her. I’ll leave to go for a walk because I don’t want to stay home and argue, but she gets mad that I do that.
If we talked, instead of her getting mad back at me, we could figure out a time for everyone to be together: me with my mom, because it is fun to shop with her, and me with my friends.
Mom Stays Mad
But my mom gives orders and she doesn’t listen. The thing is, when I get mad, I get over it fast. I will blow up, but then I’m okay. My mom stays mad, and I feel it. I want us to just forget it happened and not have to make a big deal about it. But she wants to talk about it the next day, about rules and respect for each other.
I want her to listen and not just say no right away when I ask for something like a later curfew for a special event. If she just listened instead of giving orders, it would feel more fair.
I don’t like how we have to fight about everything that isn’t the way she wants it.
Things are different for me because I’m the youngest. Before, when my older brothers were home, my mom had three of us to do things with. I had my brothers to do things with. But now it’s just me, and she turns to me to do fun stuff because I’m the only kid left at home. I think about when I leave for college in two years. I don’t like to feel guilty about it, but I do. And I don’t like to feel like I have to see her and be with her because I’m leaving soon. What it feels like is that everything is on me as the last one at home.
I know I love my mom. I really felt it when I went to California last spring break with just my dad. When I called her, we talked and talked for like an hour, and when we hung up, I still heard her voice. I missed her. She really is like my friend.
