So this post is slightly less moving that my last post but none the less pretty emotional. Is it just me who is aging at a rate of knots due to the antics of my 18 year old son? Or am I just not as good as dealing with it as the rest of mankind. Probably a bit of both. In order to save my sanity and in a kind of bleak attempt at free talking therapy I am going to try and keep a record of the trauma of living with teens - somewhat late I have to say as there has been a fair old amount of trauma in the past which I haven't written down.
Sunday 10th July
Jake and I made an agreement to meet up to work on his essays that he has to have in by the 1st of August. He had been getting very stressed about this work as if he doesn't hand it in on the 1st of August he will have to retake his first year of Uni and he just won't do that. I doubt he can afford to do it but irrespective of that he has decided he's not going to do that.
I overslept. John's 50th birthday party and the free bar provided meant that I was not up with the lark. at 1.15pm Jake wasn't home - not unusual as teenagers aren't up by then are they? But at about 4pm I sent him a text which read 'I am guessing you have changed your mind about today. Next time would you be able to let me know as I could have spent the day doing something other than waiting for you' Of course I sent this to the wrong number - obviously - but didn't find that out til much later. Jake has two mobile numbers for reasons that are pointless. At 6.30pm I went to the pub with my Fete committee friends in a last ditch attempt to have a social life and to cheer me up. It wasn't necessarily successful on either count but when I got home Jake was sitting at the table in the living room looking at his laptop then up at me as if I was late. I had had two and a half pints of cider so probably not at my best and a short loud argument ensued in which I think I may have even said 'Why don't you and Charlie (girlfriend - his) fuck off and live somewhere else then' to which he replied 'Oh yes nice one we will just end up on the streets' to which I went downstairs with the cat to my friend Nic's for a cup of tea and a Silk Cut.
When I returned a little more sobre they were all apologies and the evening ended up to be quite enjoyable - we watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 - I mean you couldn't make it up. I ended the evening watching a documentary about Carole King and James Taylor which made me weep.
The evening was a perfect example of how if Jake and I are on an even keel all else is immaterial. Yet even though I have upheld my part of the deal and am not the selfish irresponsible disrespectful one, when we have made up I am still the one weeping .
Monday 11th July
Get up and go to work leaving teens in bed. Popped back at lunchtime to find Jake at the table in the living room with his laptop and Charlie straightening her hair. I had written a message on the fridge blackboard asking then to wash up which they hadn't seen conveniently.
When I got home from work at 6.30pm they had gone out - left the washing up. Had a cuppa with Nic then went upstairs for a nap as was shattered. The phone rang and it was Mary, Jake's support worker. We had a VERY long conversation which culminated in realizing that Jake is actually in more of a pickle than I realized and we agreed to encourage him to call her on Tuesday night. I have also made an arrangement to stay in with Jake on Tuesday night to help him with his work and potentially Wednesday as well - hey, its not like I could be spending the time doing anything else right?
Will they ever do the washing up? It is a cocking obsession now...
Tuesday 12th July
Woke up to find cat had escaped on to the balcony above - rather hilarious series of events followed with me rescuing him only for him to leg it up there again by means it took me three rescues to work out. Finally got to work - late. At 4.30pm Jake called me (on Charlie's phone obviously ) to tell me he had YET AGAIN lost his keys, including the car park key (where we keep our bikes) which he has had for approximately 4 days. So somewhere out there in E3 are two sets of my keys for the taking - come one come all and loot the treasures that await you. If you have an unhealthy interest in plastic snowglobes and back issues of the NFWI membership magazine you are in for a treat I can tell you.Lord only knows what is going to happen this evening (Its Tuesday you see) but the most painful thing is that even the cat is trying to escape the horror - or is it me?
