-- Posted by Anonymous at 2:45 pm on June 10, 2008 I probably couldn't count how many times I've asked for advice about my family on LW before but I guess it's worth another shot. I live with my mum and dad and my little sister and frankly, every day with them is absolute torture. My dad hits me in heated arguments, my little sister is a spoilt brat and my mum is just a bitch. My mum lives on the philosophy that if she isn't resting, I shouldn't be either. She believes that what defines a teenager isn't their (good, in my case) grades or their honesty with their parents (mine know everything, I never lie to them) or anything else of the sort, it is based primarily on exactly how much they help around the house. Everything good I do will be dismissed if I haven't done a certain chore. If I miss one chore in the week I will recieve no spending money and my phone will not get paid for for the entire month. Now, bearing that in mind, I am 15 and I lead a busy lifestyle. I have a boyfriend and most of my best friends don't go to my school so I spend a lot of time out of the house. I have exams to work for because getting into university is my ticket out of this hellhole so I have to work hard. On top of all this, I am expected to take out the dishes from the dishwasher and put them all in, take my sister to school and most nights make her dinner, be a freelance babysitter (i.e. I could have told my mum I have plans for Saturday night on Monday and she will make me cancel them on Saturday afternoon to watch my sister for no money whatsoever), set and clear the table at dinner (when I don't really eat any of the food but that's a different issue) and do my own laundry. For all this I get £15 a week, but fail to do one thing and I get nothing. I feel a little hard done by. Anyway, about an hour ago, I was sat in the living room watching TV, minding my own business when suddenly the dog starts throwing up on the carpet. In the house there are two dogs, one dog that basically belongs to my mum and the other that belongs to the family. This was my mum's dog. I had no idea what to do so I let it out into the garden and called my mum down, and she demanded that since I witnessed the dog doing this, I have to help clean it up. She screamed at me that I was a shit who does nothing around the house and I am not allowed to use the straighteners in the morning so I'll look like shit. GAHHH help! I can't deal with it. -- Posted by chelseamorgan at 8:15 am on June 12, 2008 Its hard to deal with obsessive mothers, since you have to live with them and go by their rules. There's not a whole lot of going around it. It sounds like she's putting a lot of responsibility on you, and this may be because she wants you to get used to the real world, but at any rate, you seem very busy. There are two options. The first one is to talk to her calmly about the situation. Pick a day when she hasn't had a lot of stress, when she's at ease. You want her to pay full attention to you and really listen. Explain your points (trying to keep up grades, etc.). Don't shoot for having absolutley no chores--shoot for maybe having a few a week or having the same amount with maybe more spending money. Ask for leniance. If that doesn't work, you'll have to go straight to option two, which is cope with it. Maybe try to cut down on spending extra time away from home, or get all your chores done first. Its rough, it is. I know how you feel about having a bit of a dictator mom, but everything will work out fine. PM me for any help. xx Chelsea :)