14 year old daughter?
Whenever my family and I go to any of my brothers or sisters house,my daughter just says hi and if she’s not haning out with any of my nieces,she’ll sit on the couch,take her LG Dare out and start texting.And what really ticks me off is one day when we were at my brother’s house for his son’s 3rd birthday,my daughter asked me if I could buy her YSL mascara from Sephora.And all my siblings have confronted me saying that I spoil my daughter(she owns a Juicy Couture “Classic Daydreamer”tote,the LG Dare from Verizon and her whole closet is Abercrombie&Fitch,Hollister and Ed Hardy clothes).My siblings believe that my husband and I spoil our only daughter to just show off how much we spoil her.I don’t know what to do and I know my siblings are right.But I don’t want my daughter to get mad at my husband and I the day we stop buying her nice things.Help!
This needs to stop now before she becomes just another Ed Hardy wearing douchette.
It’s going to be hard, but you NEED to start telling her no, and NOW. It’s alright to but her things sometimes, but make her start earning things she wants herself. For starters, a 14 year old does not need YSL mascara. If you can afford it, then you can get it for yourself OR as a gift only.
Don’t cut her off completely to start, or you’ll be very, very screwed. Tell her that you think she’s old enough to start earning her own money, such as an allowance or baby sitting. She needs to know you will no longer be buying her expensive things the way you have been, and only when she deserves it. That’s pretty fair. It’s not like you won’t get her birthday and christmas presents, or never buy her nice things.
As for family time, she needs to socialize. Tell her BEFORE the next party that if she doesn’t socialize with her family, you WILL take her phone away until you leave. If she doesn’t listen, follow through.
You can really only hope for a good, cooperative reaction from her, but the chances sound slim. Expect her to be mad and not talk to you and throw fits, though. She’ll get over it eventually, and by time she’s out of high school, she should see how earning her keep has positively affected her.
Good luck with your daughter, and please let me know what happens.
