Family Guise

It's been a while since I last blogged. Since I face the computer 8+ hours a day and 7 days a week, I don't have much energy to type anything anymore.

I was stumbling across a blog when I realized that I haven't written anything for myself in a very long time. And I should. Writing keeps me sane and I feel like I'm going insane from all the stress at work and the people in it.

Anyway, I just had a conversation with my mother about my 14 year old cousin. A couple of nights ago, my mother received news that my cousin had turned into a "bad apple". She had skived school, took a cab and went to a shopping mall with a bunch of boys who were a lot older than her who apparently were loan sharks.

My mother labeled her off as being playful and rebellious and told me that she should be put in a boarding school.

I on the other hand disagreed. Since my cousin was in her teenage years, plus her parents are divorced, her mother works more than 58 hours a week and she does not talk to her father, I believe she had felt like she lost control of life. I believe that every girl whether she's 50 or 15 has an insecure side to her. And the fact that she hates her father because he's controlling and left her to live with her mother doesn't help.

I thought my mother's solution to the problem was not a solution at all. I didn't think it addressed the problem at all. My solution offered was to try to be-friend her, and to speak to her as if she was an adult. She has choices, and she needs to know that she can make decisions but informed ones. I think Generation I-Deserve (which refers to my generation and the younger ones) are a lot smarter than we give credit for which is why speaking to her as an adult, I believe is a good way to appeal to her mentality.

Mother then challenged me, and told me to put my money where my mouth is and try to reach out to her. I said that relationships and friendships have to be organic. It cannot be forced and in a situation like this, it would make things worse with my cousin.

Mother listened and rolled her eyes when I argued my case and she told me that I was full of shit.

I told her to stuff it.