Question:
Mommynotsodearest
Dear AskDesi,
I don’t usually do this kind of thing, but I just thought i’d try it out. My question is concerning my daughter who’s in the 9th grade, and like most 9th Graders, she thinks shes better than everyone else, and knows everything there is to be known. We constantly argue about her not taking care of herself in terms of not showering regularly; she hates taking showers, she hates brushing her hair, she doesn’t use lotion, her skin is always looking dry, and pasty, she wont even use deodorant, and sooner or later if not already her friends are going to say she smells, and as a mother I’m trying to prevent that from happening because I know it would just kill her if anyone said that. I can’t physically forcer her to do anything, and I’m ovbiously not getting through to her the way things are going now…Any suggestions?
Response:
Dear Mommynotsodearest, First and foremost I’m glad you decided to try AskDesi. Your situation with your daughter sounds very familiar to me. It reminds me of Myself when I was in the 9th grade. Come on, we’ve all been through those stages, when we thought we were such “know-it-alls,” so its ok! It’s just a phase, and it will pass. I used to hate it when my mother told me things like that, and even though she was my mom, I used to get embarrassed, and to hide my embarrassment I would get mad at her, and we would argue. Sound familiar? It’s probably what your daughter is going through right now. For the time being, try to be her friend, and tell her in a way she wont get embarrased. And to be quite frank, it may not be the nicest way but sometimes realizing things on your own is the best way to learn. So maybe an embarrassing incident with friends might be the “push” to your daughter understanding what you’ve been trying to tell her.
