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A

ajtx

Guest
#1
I've been really confused lately. Sometimes I wonder when the craziness will stop or how much more insane can life get. I miss the days when all I had to do was go to work and come home and have dinner. Then peacefully go to sleep. Yes l had a little stress but nothing a good run wouldn't fix! Now I'm drowning in despair. That's me being dramatic.
 

Dan58

Senior Member
Nov 13, 2013
1,991
338
83
#2
People are here but your post lacks context.. What's confusing you? What craziness? Why are you drowning in despair?

To be honest, what you described sounds like just another typical day in my life :). Welcome to my world :)
 
A

ajtx

Guest
#3
I guess I'm not good at explaining myself. Ill jump right in. I have a 13 year old who is giving me all kinds of grief. I'm constantly wondering what her next move will be. Is she going out the window again or am I going to sleep without interruption tonight. I just don't know how I'm going to survive her teen years!
 
U

Ugly

Guest
#4
Nothing a padlock on a closet door and a thick leather belt can't fix. ;)
 
A

ajtx

Guest
#5
Im a single mom and got my hands full. Its hard to discipline her on my own. She's not scared of me nor does she respect me.
 
M

missy2014

Guest
#6
win her over to Jesus with kind words and mercy forgiveness and love her lots the more you do that and praying at the same time that God will soften her heart. Also expectations are big , you need expect God will change her and God will show his love to you and her expect good things for her and like me Im learning still learning to give the dissapointments and discouragements over to God. Right now if youve got the time Worship God! go and do it have a praise session get in your room put on your favourite Christian music from youtube and praise and pray love on God he loves you and has done so much for you. The focus of grief etc changes when we praise our God who is great im not saying life isnt really tough at times it is Ive been thru hellish things . Change your focus your expectations ok : im gonn a love her eventually the truth always wins and get friends particularly mom friends to pray with you and encourage you about your daughter you cant do this alone thats why it feels too much.
 
M

missy2014

Guest
#7
proverbs 11:26
A generous person will prosper;
whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.


I like the other version it says: He who waters others will himself be watered

Love with lots of love and eventually as God is faithful they come back to God, its ok, its going to be ok .
The truth always wins
 
J

jayelle

Guest
#8
be still and know that God is God. hand over everything to Him - as in, full surrender ;-)
 
M

missy2014

Guest
#9
Amen^ above comment
 
A

ajtx

Guest
#10
Thank you for the encouraging words. I have been so caught up in the bad behavior and it quickly gets me down. I know God loves us and will help us through this too. It just breaks my heart very much to watch my child do this to herself and she acts as though she hates me
 

Dan58

Senior Member
Nov 13, 2013
1,991
338
83
#11

I'm guessing your daughter didn't just start acting up, and that its been going on for quite some time. Your "No's" don't mean anything to her and she knows she can ignore you with no repercussions. She needs discipline, or as you stated, it will only get worse. Being a single parent makes it harder on you, but I suspect what your experiencing now stems from years of letting her call the shots. To be curt, when I was 13 and my Dad said no, I obeyed, because I knew I'd get knocked on my ass if I blatantly disregarded the rules. I learned that while still in grade school. Sounds like you spared the rod and spoiled the child? jmo
 
U

Ugly

Guest
#12
Im a single mom and got my hands full. Its hard to discipline her on my own. She's not scared of me nor does she respect me.
Err... i was kidding =P
 
A

ajtx

Guest
#13
Actually she's been a good kid until about a month before she turned 13. I mean she was mouthy at times before that but nothing like now. Its as if she turned into someone else. This behavior has been going about 6 months now. She is in counseling because she was saying she wanted to kill herself. She's a very angry and sad girl
 
A

ajtx

Guest
#14
I know :). Obviously I wouldn't lock her in a closet!
 

Born_Again

Senior Member
Nov 15, 2014
1,583
128
63
#15
Actually she's been a good kid until about a month before she turned 13. I mean she was mouthy at times before that but nothing like now. Its as if she turned into someone else. This behavior has been going about 6 months now. She is in counseling because she was saying she wanted to kill herself. She's a very angry and sad girl
I have a daughter whom is almost 11. Over the last year since her mother and I split, her behavior has gotten similar. However, recently she has gotten involved in a program at church and I have already seen an improvement in her behavior. With her, I think she needed something that was her own, somewhere she felt she belonged. It gives her something to look forward to each week. I do feel your grief.

I have also heard that 12-13 is a rough age for them. They are deep in the midst of puberty so their hormones are all over the place. She's still your little girl. There's just a pubescent monster taking over right now. :)

God Bless,

BA :)
 
Sep 6, 2013
4,430
117
63
#16
13 really is a rough age... Especially for a girl. It's impending adulthood, crazy hormones and emotions, and all sorts of other things. As hard as it is, you need to try to look past what she's doing, and understand WHY she's doing it. You said she started feeling this way and doing these things about 6 months ago. Do you know if anything has happened to trigger it? Could she be acting out about something?

Where is she going at night? What is she doing? Has she gotten in with a bad crowd? Do you think she is trying to get your attention through this?

How is your relationship with her? Do you have quality time together where you just talk? My suggestion would be to take her out for dinner, just sit and talk with her about anything she wants to talk about. Don't offer any instruction or reprimands right now (at dinner), just let her know that you are there to listen and relate to her. (They don't always need to know what to do. A lot of the time they need to know that someone understands how they feel.) Repeat this talking process as often as you possibly can. Strengthen your relationship with her. She will start to see you as someone she can trust, and start kind of throwing ideas out there to see your reaction, to ask (in her own way) what you think about things. As you gain more trust, she will come to you with problems. Perhaps she will share what's on her mind and why she's been so troubled lately.

In addition to this (and at a separate time from the dinner thing - keep that time sacred), I do think rules have to be stated and enforced. Maybe lay down ground rules again, this time telling her exactly what will happen if she breaks these rules. Don't give her a whole lot. Start very simple, such as NO SNEAKING OUT. If she breaks the rule, in addition to the disciplinary action, she now has to sleep in YOUR room at night. It's not a punishment, it's a protection.

She sneaks out? She has to sleep in your room.

She slams her door disrespectfully? Her door is removed from her room for a week.

You get the idea. It's severe, but it focuses on the solution to "help" her with her problem (the problem of making bad choices), rather than just punishing her so that she's miserable and even more angry.

She needs to understand that your JOB is to protect her and raise her up in the way she should go. I know it is exhausting to have to monitor her every minute when she's in your care. But that might be what has to happen in order to get her back on track. Teenagers actually do NEED to feel safe, and rules make them feel safer whether they admit it or not. Having a strong set of rules that never changes, is enforced, and is for her own good, will help her to feel safer and happier. Again, don't smother her with unnecessary rules right now. Just the really big important ones. Then go from there.
 
Last edited:

Born_Again

Senior Member
Nov 15, 2014
1,583
128
63
#17
13 really is a rough age... Especially for a girl. It's impending adulthood, crazy hormones and emotions, and all sorts of other things. As hard as it is, you need to try to look past what she's doing, and understand WHY she's doing it. You said she started feeling this way and doing these things about 6 months ago. Do you know if anything has happened to trigger it? Could she be acting out about something?

Where is she going at night? What is she doing? Has she gotten in with a bad crowd? Do you think she is trying to get your attention through this?

How is your relationship with her? Do you have quality time together where you just talk? My suggestion would be to take her out for dinner, just sit and talk with her about anything she wants to talk about. Don't offer any instruction or reprimands right now (at dinner), just let her know that you are there to listen and relate to her. (They don't always need to know what to do. A lot of the time they need to know that someone understands how they feel.) Repeat this talking process as often as you possibly can. Strengthen your relationship with her. She will start to see you as someone she can trust, and start kind of throwing ideas out there to see your reaction, to ask (in her own way) what you think about things. As you gain more trust, she will come to you with problems. Perhaps she will share what's on her mind and why she's been so troubled lately.

In addition to this (and at a separate time from the dinner thing - keep that time sacred), I do think rules have to be stated and enforced. Maybe lay down ground rules again, this time telling her exactly what will happen if she breaks these rules. Don't give her a whole lot. Start very simple, such as NO SNEAKING OUT. If she breaks the rule, in addition to the disciplinary action, she now has to sleep in YOUR room at night. It's not a punishment, it's a protection.

She sneaks out? She has to sleep in your room.

She slams her door disrespectfully? Her door is removed from her room for a week.

You get the idea. It's severe, but it focuses on the solution to "help" her with her problem, rather than just punishing her so that she's miserable and even more angry.

She needs to understand that your JOB is to protect her and raise her up in the way she should go. I know it is exhausting to have to monitor her every minute when she's in your care. But that might be what has to happen in order to get her back on track. Teenagers actually do NEED to feel safe, and rules make them feel safer whether they admit it or not. Having a strong set of rules that never changes, is enforced, and is for her own good, will help her to feel safer and happier. Again, don't smother her with unnecessary rules right now. Just the really big important ones. Then go from there.
Show-off! :p LOL Good post, though. :)
 
A

ajtx

Guest
#20
Ive been trying very hard this past week to give as much grace as possible. She can be extremely mouthy sometimes and if she catches me at a bad time, the stuff hits the fan. Times have been tough lately and we're working through some things. i realize ive shared a lot of information on here and i hope people dont think im the kind of person who is open like that all the time. Im probably the most private person in my family. Ive got some loud mouths in my clan! I shared all this info because im so concerned about my girl. Nothing hurts more than to see your child hurting. Its almost unbearable to watch your child go through so much pain and you cant fix it for them. This whole growing up thing is for the birds! i want my sweet baby back.