diddagirl

Demeter, your story reminds me alot of myself and my moms situation when I was about 14. My mom was also a single parent, and had always been a little too leniant with us. She was never even able to ground me for punishment because I would just leave the house anyways. My friends and I used to sneak out alot in the middle of the night (we would sneak out from who'e ever house we were sleeping at). My mom busted me, and I more or less treated it as no big deal- because what was she gonna do? So we continued to sneak out again and again. And I got busted again. When my mom found out that I snuck out again after she made me promise not to, she discovered her way to show me that she was the adult and that I do have to respect and obey her.

I had failed my learners test a few months before this and I was planning on retaking it within the next week. Because I was only 14, my mom would have to sign for me to get my learners. She decided that as punishment- she would not sign and allow me to get my learners. I was devestated.....I really really wanted my learners and was so eager to try it again. She made me wait several months before she would allow me to take it again. In the end- her idea worked. I never snuck out again in fear that my learners would be prolonged even further.

Hang in there Demeter..... things will get better. Sounds like you have a smart girl, and you just have to have faith that she will make the right decisions on her own, and grow into the young women she is supposed to be.

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"Is it so small a thing to have enjoyed the sun, to have lived long in the spring, to have loved, to have thought, to have done."
-Matthew Arnold