Michael18
May 22, 2011, 06:14 AM
I am 18 years old, 19 years old in three months. I am graduating high school  in three weeks, I have all A's and B's in class except for one C+, and I am the senior vice president of my school. But my parents still feel that it's their job to "parent" me.
My parents still have a designated bedtime for me at 10:00pm, instead of letting me keep track of my own sleep/time schedule.
They also have a wireless power switch connected to our internet modem that they turn off at 11:00pm with a remote controller so I don't have any internet access at night during the school week.
I've only had a couple friends over to my house so far in my entire life, the first friend that came over was only here about ten times when I was ten years old, but he kept teasing me so we didn't get along well. The second time a friend came over was about six months ago and he only stayed one weekend.
But most of the time when I ask if a friend can come over on the weekend, they always use an excuse to justify themselves that they can't come over:
1. "You don't do anything around the house." (They never made me do chores. They "hint" that I should help them though. But I do clean up after myself and do dishes.)
2. "The house has to be cleaned." (When I tell them that it is dirty, and that we can clean it, they tell me "it's not dirty.")
3. "There's stuff that has to be done." (Things that have three weeks time to be done.)
4. "Things are happening." (Things that have nothing to do with someone not being able to come over.)
5. "You have had friends over and all you did was fight with them." (I was ten years old back then and he was the one that relentlesly teased me.)
6. "You have homework to do." (Homework that I actually have no problem getting done at school.)
7. "No." (Just plain no, with no reason whatsoever.)
I understand them not wanting me to stay up too late so I don't suffer from sleep deprivation during school, but I don't think they seem to understand that it makes me feel like they think I'm not mature enough to manage my time appropriatly and it's really tiring not being able to spend time with anybody outside of school because we don't live near any of my friends.
My parents said that they never let anyone come over, or let me go to anyone's house because I took a long time and didn't finish my homework most of the time. But when I did have my homework done, and I wanted someone over, it somehow never happened other than those two times. As previously stated, I believe no one ended up coming over because of their "justifications." I believe it gets to a point to where even if I didn't have my homework completely finished, and the house wasn't completely "prepared for company," or whatever they said, that they should have at least let me have a friend over once in a while when I asked.
Even if my homework wasn't quite done, they didn't let me go over to my grandma and grandpa's house that's only 1/8 of a mile away. My relatives complained about how I "never was allowed to come over," and my relatives justified themselves that if I didn't have my homework done, my parents could have sent me over with my "homework in hand."Â But I had gone over and visited many times before so my parents feelings were hurt. So now my dads parents and my parents have an ongoing conflict with each other, but my parents blame me and say it was my fault for making my grandparents think what they think about them.
I will explain why my parents blame me for my grandparents mind-set:
It started the summer break four years ago when my mom developed serious ovarian cancer just before I turned fifteen years old:
My mom started to have inflammation in her abdomen and we decided to get it checked out by having a cat scan in the hospital. Both of her ovaries had serious cancer, so they had to preform a full histerectomy. After that, she underwent a radical new form of chemotherapy where they filled her whole abdomen with chemo-fluid multiple times.
My moms whole family came up for moral and physical support, along with the emotional turmoil and raised stress levels that comes along with a family member being very ill.
Now mind you, I was adopted at five years old. I have been an only child ever since I was adopted, I always have been taken well care of, my parents always did their best to get what I wanted, and I never had any designated chores because my parents just did them for me without thinking a second though about it. My parents and I did many fun things together such as taking family vacations to the beach and having family board game nights etc.
My mothers mom and dad (grandma and grandpa) expected me to help with things around the house while they were here nursing my mom. I had never done anything around the house so I naturally didn't 'hop-to-it' and help. As a result my mothers mom kept saying that I "never thought about anyone else," I "never did anything," and that I was "the laziest kid she had ever met." But she never blamed my parents parenting skills (my parents never making me do any chores).
Along with those problems I had, the tensions in the family led to many arguments between my mothers siblings and parents. Such as both of my moms sisters (my aunts) complaining to my moms parents that they had "no right to tell them what to do and what not to do or say." And now I have developed those same arguments myself between my parents.
Anyway, I felt troubled but didn't want to talk with my parents about it because of what my mom was going through. (I didn't want to place my troubles on top of their troubles at the time.) Because of this, I talked to someone close to me at the time, I talked to my fathers mom (my other grandmother) about what was happening and what was troubling me at the time. I talked about not having that many friends at school, (most people in school weren't that accepting of me) and what was happening at home with my relatives.Â
I opened up to her, unbenownst to me that my dads mother already  had her own ill opinions of my parents which she had never talked to them about. She had opinions about their parenting which she nonchalantly talked to me about my parents and tried to convince me they weren't doing the right things for my childhood.
I told my parents that I had talked with her. And over a conversation on the phone with her, my parents asked what had been talked about. My grandmother told my parents that I had a "horrible life," and went on about how she dissaproved of their parenting skills which she said was the reason why I had a "bad life." What she told my parents are as follows:
1. She believes that my parents never let her or any other family nembers into our house. (What she said is not true. They never came in because they didn't like our dogs jumping all over them.)
2. She told them that they never invited them over to our house. (They were invited many times.)
3. She said that my parents deprived me of anything physical because they never signed me up for any sports. (I never liked sports in the first place and my parents know that.)
4. She thinks that I shouldn't call my parents "mommy" and "daddy." (I have always been close to my parents, they will always be my parents, and that's what I've always called them because it's endearing.)
5. She said I was too old to still be sleeping by their bed during the weekends. (I used to sleep by their bed at night when I was little on the weekends. We would watch a movie and t.v. shows until I fell asleep because I didn't have a t.v. in my bedroom. It was our family time watching movies together.)
My parents believe that what my grandmother told them, is what I told my grandmother, which is not true. I never told my grandmother that I thought they were bad parents. I simply stated to my grandmother what happened and how I was feeling at the time, I have never said my parents were not good parents. So basically my grandmother told them that she disaproved of how they raised me and my parents think that it was me. Because of this, my parents lost their trust in me and think that I will go and tell everyone about what happens in the household and they are really paranoid about it now. I told them it was in fact my grandmother who had those opinions about them but they didn't believe me. I have been angry at my grandmother ever since for telling my parents those things, and I have been mad at my parents ever since for believing that it was me that said those things because they don't believe my grandmother would ever say those things about them without me telling my grandmother about it in the first place.
My parents turn the wifi off whenever we get into an argument thinking I will tell everyone about it within hearing distance. (It's because I had told and asked a couple other family members what they though about what happened over the internet.)
My dads brother and his brothers spouse (my aunt and uncle) told me things that they were unhappy about with my parents before I was even with my mom and dad. They told me that my parents never let them into their house, they even told me about my mothers sister (my aunt on my mothers side). And so I asked my mom and dad about what they told me, and my parents said that they were telling lies. They told me that they always let my uncle in, and they played games and watched television with him and let him sleep on their spare bed. They were extremely unhappy that I talked to them.
And then my aunt and uncle called and told me that they were "mad" I had "told" my parents about what they told me. They said that they told me what they said "in confidence" and they they would never "trust" me again. (Sounds like my aunt and uncle were talking crap about my parents to me and didn't want them to know about it.)
My parents lost their trust in me and told me that I should talk to them first about what I'm unhappy about with them. They also said "sometimes things are said that you just don't go talking about to everyone else." And that I "wouldn't like it if" they "told people" what I "say or do."
I talked to my mom and dad about everything that happened with my grandmother and other siblings but it still hasn't gotten better. My grandmother refused to, and won't talk to my parents about it, so there hasn't been any resolve. If I talk to my grandmother, my parents will think that I'm talking smack about them. So I still haven't told my grandmother how much it hurt me that she would say those things about my parents which basically ruined my relationship with them.
My dad blames me for his mom and family not talking to him anymore because of their argument about how I was raised. (It was my grandmother, and her family that had their opinions about my parents in the first place.)Â
My mom and dad don't trust me, thinking that I'll tell everyone else everything that I'm unhappy with about them. And my parents still think that I should have a bedtime/cutoff time for the internet even though I'm almost 19 years old.
I really don't know what to do anymore. I don't think I can make my parents and my grandmother talk to each other, but I want a resolution before I leave, and I also want them to stop blaming me for what happened. I want them to treat me like I am mature enough to run my own life/time schedule.
My parents still have a designated bedtime for me at 10:00pm, instead of letting me keep track of my own sleep/time schedule.
They also have a wireless power switch connected to our internet modem that they turn off at 11:00pm with a remote controller so I don't have any internet access at night during the school week.
I've only had a couple friends over to my house so far in my entire life, the first friend that came over was only here about ten times when I was ten years old, but he kept teasing me so we didn't get along well. The second time a friend came over was about six months ago and he only stayed one weekend.
But most of the time when I ask if a friend can come over on the weekend, they always use an excuse to justify themselves that they can't come over:
1. "You don't do anything around the house." (They never made me do chores. They "hint" that I should help them though. But I do clean up after myself and do dishes.)
2. "The house has to be cleaned." (When I tell them that it is dirty, and that we can clean it, they tell me "it's not dirty.")
3. "There's stuff that has to be done." (Things that have three weeks time to be done.)
4. "Things are happening." (Things that have nothing to do with someone not being able to come over.)
5. "You have had friends over and all you did was fight with them." (I was ten years old back then and he was the one that relentlesly teased me.)
6. "You have homework to do." (Homework that I actually have no problem getting done at school.)
7. "No." (Just plain no, with no reason whatsoever.)
I understand them not wanting me to stay up too late so I don't suffer from sleep deprivation during school, but I don't think they seem to understand that it makes me feel like they think I'm not mature enough to manage my time appropriatly and it's really tiring not being able to spend time with anybody outside of school because we don't live near any of my friends.
My parents said that they never let anyone come over, or let me go to anyone's house because I took a long time and didn't finish my homework most of the time. But when I did have my homework done, and I wanted someone over, it somehow never happened other than those two times. As previously stated, I believe no one ended up coming over because of their "justifications." I believe it gets to a point to where even if I didn't have my homework completely finished, and the house wasn't completely "prepared for company," or whatever they said, that they should have at least let me have a friend over once in a while when I asked.
Even if my homework wasn't quite done, they didn't let me go over to my grandma and grandpa's house that's only 1/8 of a mile away. My relatives complained about how I "never was allowed to come over," and my relatives justified themselves that if I didn't have my homework done, my parents could have sent me over with my "homework in hand."Â But I had gone over and visited many times before so my parents feelings were hurt. So now my dads parents and my parents have an ongoing conflict with each other, but my parents blame me and say it was my fault for making my grandparents think what they think about them.
I will explain why my parents blame me for my grandparents mind-set:
It started the summer break four years ago when my mom developed serious ovarian cancer just before I turned fifteen years old:
My mom started to have inflammation in her abdomen and we decided to get it checked out by having a cat scan in the hospital. Both of her ovaries had serious cancer, so they had to preform a full histerectomy. After that, she underwent a radical new form of chemotherapy where they filled her whole abdomen with chemo-fluid multiple times.
My moms whole family came up for moral and physical support, along with the emotional turmoil and raised stress levels that comes along with a family member being very ill.
Now mind you, I was adopted at five years old. I have been an only child ever since I was adopted, I always have been taken well care of, my parents always did their best to get what I wanted, and I never had any designated chores because my parents just did them for me without thinking a second though about it. My parents and I did many fun things together such as taking family vacations to the beach and having family board game nights etc.
My mothers mom and dad (grandma and grandpa) expected me to help with things around the house while they were here nursing my mom. I had never done anything around the house so I naturally didn't 'hop-to-it' and help. As a result my mothers mom kept saying that I "never thought about anyone else," I "never did anything," and that I was "the laziest kid she had ever met." But she never blamed my parents parenting skills (my parents never making me do any chores).
Along with those problems I had, the tensions in the family led to many arguments between my mothers siblings and parents. Such as both of my moms sisters (my aunts) complaining to my moms parents that they had "no right to tell them what to do and what not to do or say." And now I have developed those same arguments myself between my parents.
Anyway, I felt troubled but didn't want to talk with my parents about it because of what my mom was going through. (I didn't want to place my troubles on top of their troubles at the time.) Because of this, I talked to someone close to me at the time, I talked to my fathers mom (my other grandmother) about what was happening and what was troubling me at the time. I talked about not having that many friends at school, (most people in school weren't that accepting of me) and what was happening at home with my relatives.Â
I opened up to her, unbenownst to me that my dads mother already  had her own ill opinions of my parents which she had never talked to them about. She had opinions about their parenting which she nonchalantly talked to me about my parents and tried to convince me they weren't doing the right things for my childhood.
I told my parents that I had talked with her. And over a conversation on the phone with her, my parents asked what had been talked about. My grandmother told my parents that I had a "horrible life," and went on about how she dissaproved of their parenting skills which she said was the reason why I had a "bad life." What she told my parents are as follows:
1. She believes that my parents never let her or any other family nembers into our house. (What she said is not true. They never came in because they didn't like our dogs jumping all over them.)
2. She told them that they never invited them over to our house. (They were invited many times.)
3. She said that my parents deprived me of anything physical because they never signed me up for any sports. (I never liked sports in the first place and my parents know that.)
4. She thinks that I shouldn't call my parents "mommy" and "daddy." (I have always been close to my parents, they will always be my parents, and that's what I've always called them because it's endearing.)
5. She said I was too old to still be sleeping by their bed during the weekends. (I used to sleep by their bed at night when I was little on the weekends. We would watch a movie and t.v. shows until I fell asleep because I didn't have a t.v. in my bedroom. It was our family time watching movies together.)
My parents believe that what my grandmother told them, is what I told my grandmother, which is not true. I never told my grandmother that I thought they were bad parents. I simply stated to my grandmother what happened and how I was feeling at the time, I have never said my parents were not good parents. So basically my grandmother told them that she disaproved of how they raised me and my parents think that it was me. Because of this, my parents lost their trust in me and think that I will go and tell everyone about what happens in the household and they are really paranoid about it now. I told them it was in fact my grandmother who had those opinions about them but they didn't believe me. I have been angry at my grandmother ever since for telling my parents those things, and I have been mad at my parents ever since for believing that it was me that said those things because they don't believe my grandmother would ever say those things about them without me telling my grandmother about it in the first place.
My parents turn the wifi off whenever we get into an argument thinking I will tell everyone about it within hearing distance. (It's because I had told and asked a couple other family members what they though about what happened over the internet.)
My dads brother and his brothers spouse (my aunt and uncle) told me things that they were unhappy about with my parents before I was even with my mom and dad. They told me that my parents never let them into their house, they even told me about my mothers sister (my aunt on my mothers side). And so I asked my mom and dad about what they told me, and my parents said that they were telling lies. They told me that they always let my uncle in, and they played games and watched television with him and let him sleep on their spare bed. They were extremely unhappy that I talked to them.
And then my aunt and uncle called and told me that they were "mad" I had "told" my parents about what they told me. They said that they told me what they said "in confidence" and they they would never "trust" me again. (Sounds like my aunt and uncle were talking crap about my parents to me and didn't want them to know about it.)
My parents lost their trust in me and told me that I should talk to them first about what I'm unhappy about with them. They also said "sometimes things are said that you just don't go talking about to everyone else." And that I "wouldn't like it if" they "told people" what I "say or do."
I talked to my mom and dad about everything that happened with my grandmother and other siblings but it still hasn't gotten better. My grandmother refused to, and won't talk to my parents about it, so there hasn't been any resolve. If I talk to my grandmother, my parents will think that I'm talking smack about them. So I still haven't told my grandmother how much it hurt me that she would say those things about my parents which basically ruined my relationship with them.
My dad blames me for his mom and family not talking to him anymore because of their argument about how I was raised. (It was my grandmother, and her family that had their opinions about my parents in the first place.)Â
My mom and dad don't trust me, thinking that I'll tell everyone else everything that I'm unhappy with about them. And my parents still think that I should have a bedtime/cutoff time for the internet even though I'm almost 19 years old.
I really don't know what to do anymore. I don't think I can make my parents and my grandmother talk to each other, but I want a resolution before I leave, and I also want them to stop blaming me for what happened. I want them to treat me like I am mature enough to run my own life/time schedule.