Dear TEENage,

Simply put, my parents are annoying.

They chew away at my patience every day with their incessant talking. Especially since it’s the holidays and I don’t have the escape of school, I get the full brunt of it.

My Dad’s favourite saying is ‘Turn it down!”. When he says that, I take it as an invitation to turn down the television yes, and also turn him down.

I either drown out his presence with music or retire to my bedroom and stay there for the day. That means I don’t do any chores, leaving my Mom to knock down my door, demanding that I do them. Also, as if that’s not enough torture, recently they told me they want to meet my friends or I won’t be able to go partying.

Introduce them to my friends? That’s ludicrous!

They’re fencing me in and the worse part is that they think they are justified!

What do I do?

Annoyed Daughter

Dear Annoyed Daughter,

On the contrary, they are quite justified.

All day you indulge in whatever it is to block your parents out. What you fail to realise is that with the little things they ask you to do, they are testing how responsible you are.

Your father probably shouts ‘Turn it down!’, because the television volume is too high and you make matters all the worse by using music as a retort. You failed that test by proving that you don’t respect the wishes of others.

As for your mom, you failed her test also, by proving that you can’t be trusted to do the chores set out for you. It’s a simple matter of washing the dishes or sweeping the house. That’ll take one-hour, tops, and will show that you understand the value of a clean house.

These things give parents a yardstick to judge their children by, and you’ve failed miserably.

What do you expect? That they should trust you to go to parties with persons possibly as irresponsible as you have proven yourself to be? For in their minds, your friends are just like you, approving the things you do.

What you need to do is start brushing up. Be moderate with the volume, do your chores and prove that you can be responsible. If it is that your mom doesn’t ask you to do other things, you can volunteer in an effort to prove that you can be trusted.

It’s not the end of the world to introduce your friends to your parents. It’ll prove beneficial in the end. As when you ask you parents to let you go out with Mark, your father will have no reason to bellow out from the other room, “Mark? Mark who?”

Bring your friends regularly by the house to give your parents a chance to trust them and in return, trust you.

Good luck.

TEENage Advice Team