u/BiscottiOk9245

I’m a parent of a tween and I noticed that a lot of the kids don’t say thank you, even my own. I’ve taught them to do it and I’ve modeled the behavior.

And these kids’ parents model the same behavior and it’s pretty obvious have similar parenting styles.

But its like they just…don’t. In any situation.

It feels awkward, on my end, to prompt anyone so I say thank you instead and they’ll half heartedly echo but it’s rare. But it feels weird to me to say, “What do we say?” because I’ve always found it obnoxious when other adults do that.

Is this normal where you’re from?

My tween daughter and I are very different. I’m a lot more outgoing and she’s very quiet and introverted. I will go ahead and disclose that she does take time to warm up. But once the conversation has started with her, she’s pretty good about following through now. She was not before, but she’s improved a lot.

I used to volunteer at the school a lot and I started doing it again recently. I’m not even a young parent but (I think) because of my carefree, laidback delivery, the kids end up gravitating towards me. This has always been a thing ever since preschool. I don’t know why. But the kids like me for whatever reason.

Something that I’ve always found annoying though is when people would talk to me and act like my daughter isn’t there. I think it is so disrespectful.

I think that tweens are not cool. I know they’re supposed to think they’re cool at this age, but they’re all honestly kind of awkward and wish they are older than they are. Again totally normal, but I still find it annoying. But I'm nice enough to them because the world will do its job as usual and make them feel like garbage as they go through puberty.

I’m not really looking to do anything petty like put them in their place or anything like that. I actually like them otherwise. But I’m honestly pretty sick of how they treat my kid. I think my kid tries to play it off like she doesn’t care, but I know that it must sting a little.

I don’t think they’re trying to necessarily be mean, but I can’t help but want tocorrect them whenever they try to ask me a question even if it’s an innocuous question about her (like if she’s reading a certain book or something) and she’s literally standing right next to me. I always have to ask/tell them to ask her directly.

Anyone able to relate? What did you do?

My tween son loves to act but it seems that most productions youth theater puts out are mostly, if not, all musicals.

He is into straight plays and loves Shakespeare. any youth theater programs do this?

My child reads A LOT. Mostly books but also e-books and audiobooks. They are in the top first percentile in ELA. They just read so much but I worry it’s affecting them. This year alone, they’ve read over 112 books. We track on a reading app.

Are there any adverse effects by doing any of the three forms too much?

Just curious: For parents who have to work or have other obligations, how do you make your kids go to school? Obviously going to school is a must for most families.

I understand the answer is just "we just make them go" or "they don't have a choice - they just go" but what does that actually entail? Are there arguments? Whining? Etc - is it daily?