Teen Girls--- Out Of Control, Aka Lindsay Lohan
Without Prejudice
I was Pre warned about teen girls by my Mother In Law, Gwen. At the time my girls, four of, were young, innocent carefree. Still at the stage where they were playing with Barbies, cutting out pictures of horses and wearing pretty dresses and loving Sunday School. Precious babies.
My Mother In Law advised this,
" One day your sweet little girl turns 12 and overnight will turn into a monster you don't recognise. A snarling, yelling, defiant monster. She will no longer wear what you want her to wear, no longer do as you want her to do. But if you can hang on, be at least her friend, she will turn 17 one day and after that she will start to get better. "
I looked at my girls, all four of them and couldn't imagine that happening. But I took my Mother In Laws advice and settled it in the back of my mind.
And one day it all came true, horribly frustratingly true.
There is only 11 months and 3 weeks between my first two. And just as my Mother In Law had predicted at twelve they changed overnight. The oldest had always been mature and responsible and the second a rebel. So they turned into teenagers together and one went this way the other that way and all hell broke loose.
At ten the second oldest kicked a Teacher in the shin and walked home, stalked home and refused to go back. She had always been a prickly child and the school insisted I take her to a child psychologist. For a year we travelled to an Asian Psychiatrist that she ended up adoring. He told us two things, she was jealous of her older Sister, the good one and she was a pessimist and would always be so.
When I asked him how to cope he laughed for the first time ever, his smooth austere face cracked wide open and he said and I quote verbatim.
" Kids are buggers and will drive you crazy "
Never a truer word was said.
By 13, the oldest one was climbing out of windows to get to the races with her best friend who was 2 years older. She was tall and willowy and could easily pass for 17. At times I literally could see her growing, inch by inch, she grew out of shoes within weeks and insisted on having the best of everything, clothes, shoes, makeup, perfume.
She shortened her school uniform so it barely covered anything and on long always brown legs stalked off to high school every day and stalked home. Starving. It wasn't cool to be seen eating at school, so by the time she hit the bottom of the drive way she was almost crying with hunger. I would be there with snacks. Jatz crackers and cheese with gherkin or tomato or a platter of Hungarian Salami, cheese, dry biscuits, pickled onions, more gherkins, home grown tomatoes.
She worked at 14 at a dental mechanics around the corner, every afternoon after school. $5 a day and then would buy her own clothes and they were always Jag or Cue. Grown up dresses she could wear to the races where the atmosphere was wealthy and dressed up. The other daughter would try to emulate and follow her but without the dresses she was more the skin tight jeans and hoodie type of girl.
Both eventually worked at McDonalds as soon as they hit 15. The oldest could bring home free food and did and could eat two Big Macs in one sitting, such was her hunger at the accelerated growth rate she went through. Her knees ached and she suffered growth pains which were intense and made her cry. She kept up the dental mechanic job as well as Maccas and had money to burn.
One night they were coming home together on a bike. Debbie " dinking" Yvette in the back. A car raced past almost knocking them off the bike and Yvette as ever the rebel jumped off and yelled at the car.
" Bloody lesbians " she yelled at the car and stuck her fingers in the air.
So the car turned around. Two lesbians ( so the girls said ) jumped out of the car and beat the shit out of them, Debbie said, and she split her brand new pair of Bubble Gum jeans straight across the knee. She was more upset about the jeans than the beating and I had to take them back to Just Jeans at Parkmore the next day and say the split had happened in the wash and get a new pair.
Yvette started High School and was sent home on the first day after wearing too much make up. She returned the next day with twice as much make up on and the High School battle began.
I was Pre warned about teen girls by my Mother In Law, Gwen. At the time my girls, four of, were young, innocent carefree. Still at the stage where they were playing with Barbies, cutting out pictures of horses and wearing pretty dresses and loving Sunday School. Precious babies.
My Mother In Law advised this,
" One day your sweet little girl turns 12 and overnight will turn into a monster you don't recognise. A snarling, yelling, defiant monster. She will no longer wear what you want her to wear, no longer do as you want her to do. But if you can hang on, be at least her friend, she will turn 17 one day and after that she will start to get better. "
I looked at my girls, all four of them and couldn't imagine that happening. But I took my Mother In Laws advice and settled it in the back of my mind.
And one day it all came true, horribly frustratingly true.
There is only 11 months and 3 weeks between my first two. And just as my Mother In Law had predicted at twelve they changed overnight. The oldest had always been mature and responsible and the second a rebel. So they turned into teenagers together and one went this way the other that way and all hell broke loose.
At ten the second oldest kicked a Teacher in the shin and walked home, stalked home and refused to go back. She had always been a prickly child and the school insisted I take her to a child psychologist. For a year we travelled to an Asian Psychiatrist that she ended up adoring. He told us two things, she was jealous of her older Sister, the good one and she was a pessimist and would always be so.
When I asked him how to cope he laughed for the first time ever, his smooth austere face cracked wide open and he said and I quote verbatim.
" Kids are buggers and will drive you crazy "
Never a truer word was said.
By 13, the oldest one was climbing out of windows to get to the races with her best friend who was 2 years older. She was tall and willowy and could easily pass for 17. At times I literally could see her growing, inch by inch, she grew out of shoes within weeks and insisted on having the best of everything, clothes, shoes, makeup, perfume.
She shortened her school uniform so it barely covered anything and on long always brown legs stalked off to high school every day and stalked home. Starving. It wasn't cool to be seen eating at school, so by the time she hit the bottom of the drive way she was almost crying with hunger. I would be there with snacks. Jatz crackers and cheese with gherkin or tomato or a platter of Hungarian Salami, cheese, dry biscuits, pickled onions, more gherkins, home grown tomatoes.
She worked at 14 at a dental mechanics around the corner, every afternoon after school. $5 a day and then would buy her own clothes and they were always Jag or Cue. Grown up dresses she could wear to the races where the atmosphere was wealthy and dressed up. The other daughter would try to emulate and follow her but without the dresses she was more the skin tight jeans and hoodie type of girl.
Both eventually worked at McDonalds as soon as they hit 15. The oldest could bring home free food and did and could eat two Big Macs in one sitting, such was her hunger at the accelerated growth rate she went through. Her knees ached and she suffered growth pains which were intense and made her cry. She kept up the dental mechanic job as well as Maccas and had money to burn.
One night they were coming home together on a bike. Debbie " dinking" Yvette in the back. A car raced past almost knocking them off the bike and Yvette as ever the rebel jumped off and yelled at the car.
" Bloody lesbians " she yelled at the car and stuck her fingers in the air.
So the car turned around. Two lesbians ( so the girls said ) jumped out of the car and beat the shit out of them, Debbie said, and she split her brand new pair of Bubble Gum jeans straight across the knee. She was more upset about the jeans than the beating and I had to take them back to Just Jeans at Parkmore the next day and say the split had happened in the wash and get a new pair.
Yvette started High School and was sent home on the first day after wearing too much make up. She returned the next day with twice as much make up on and the High School battle began.
