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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Well, I will raise my hand, and hang my head in shame.

I suspect most people here either have kids who have launched,  and thus have some more distance, or, as some previous poster, have very young kids.

I have a tween and a teen, and if you had asked me even two years ago, I would have said that my kids are amazing, that I love them more than my own life, and that I couldn't imagine my life without them. The first two of those statements still hold true, but over the past year I have been longingly daydreaming about the day when they are finally out of the house.

They both have some mild special needs, and the hormones are not helping, but they are both difficult, rude, argumentative, stubborn and dare I say lazy. We have spent countless hours and $ on various therapies for both, we put every support imaginable in place to help them, we spent a lot of time exposing them to every possible beneficial EC but let them chose their own path and interests in which we have been unfailingly supportive. Yet, they barely get by academically, are selfish and inconsiderate of the effort that it takes to keep our household running and meeting their every need, and take little to no responsibility for their own failings - everything is always someone else's fault.

I am sure that we as parents are partially to blame for this, but I am not sure what else we could have done. I have read many parenting books, taken classes, I am in therapy myself for the anxiety that keeps mounting because I worry so much about my children. We support them academically, help with homework, remind about projects, instrument practice, take them to playdates, drive them to and from their chosen sports, make sure they have enough downtime, spend enough time outdoors, provide healthy meals, travel to both fun and educational places, and yet, none of it seems to make any difference.

I fervently hope that this is just a stage, and that my smart, funny, sunny kids will eventually return to us, but right now I am dejected and almost dreading walking through the door each afternoon, only to be faced with a new drama, or some other way that I have allegedly failed them. I am not sure how much more of this I can take. So maybe you just caught me at a bad time, but if you are asking me today whether I regret having children, the answer is "yes, absolutely".

There, flame away. [/quote]

(Hugs) I [b]don't have a lot of advice to give, as I only have a 2yo and one on the way. I don't know if this will help, but my MIL talks a lot about how difficult my H was as a teenager. Constant fighting, drugs and alcohol, etc. The entire family was in therapy because of him, according to her. I find these stories SHOCKING because H now is the most incredible person I know.[/b] He's smart, gentle, hard working, a complete equal to me in our household, and obsessed with our daughter. He has a top 5 MBA and well paying job that he loves. I am not saying all this to randomly brag about my H but to say that your post sounded a lot to me like how MIL talks about his teen years, and now it's clear he is a joy in her life (as is our kid). I hope you have a similar light at the end of your tunnel. You sound like a great mom and your kids are lucky to have you. And they will leave eventually one way or another :)[/quote]

My MIL also (affectionately says that if my DH had been her first, he'd be her last. But he is now an awesome husband and father. [/quote]

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