Alright, this is gonna be a looooong post, as my parents have managed to form a list of issues and such so long, it could fill a whole wall with the paper.
So, I guess I should start with myself. I am a 15-year-old
PC gamer, going into Eleventh Grade. I have an average Hygiene, Okay grades, but is still not employed because of document regulations involving work. I enjoy many FPS, RPG and Strategy games, and I like to watch Youtube game Commentaries from various people. I am interested in making a career off of Youtube, as well as from the Video Game industry. I have big dreams for the future, but my family, as of now, is hindering me from working towards them.
To Start, both my parents have twisted versions of Parenting. It's not anything like Sexual or Major Physical abuse, It's more Minor Physical and Emotional/Psychological abuse. Both my mom and my dad have issues that make them both very stressful to deal with, but my Dad is the main problem that I see. He has it in his head that when he gave birth to a Son, it gave him infinite power and authority over me (I have a thing against this "Parents-over-their-kids" thing in society). He seems to think that he can do whatever he pleases to me, and that I have to be him undying servant until I move out and that I OWE it to him, when he treats his family and mostly ME like absolute shit.
He thinks that I have to be perfect in school, and although I think it is important to be successful in school, I DON'T think that stressing yourself out for A+'s and getting B's and C's in reality is necessary, even for High School. He also has this perfectionist attitude about our every action, no matter where: Home, School, Social Gatherings, Parties, he'll still "Discipline" Me and my sister in public about manners that I barely see anyone giving that much thought into it where they are.
He is also a major Catholic. Now, most people would read that last sentence and think, "What's that got to do with you?" Well, It would be fine, if he hadn't NOT ONLY forced it upon his whole family without any second thoughts or taken opinions, but also used it as a threshold on everyone. He makes me and my sister go to every Sunday Mass, Every Holy Day of Obligation (Even the one that's on my Birthday!), every holiday mass, every damn religious holiday that drags us to a stone brick church. He even used the "Catholics are anti-gay" part of Catholicism to prevent me from spending the weekend with a friend in Rhode Island, all because his guardians are gaily married!
Oh, remember what I said about him thinking that I OWE work to him? Well, guess what else, he's a major Cheapskate, and uses this as an excuse to NOT pay me for chores! I had gotten this laptop for not only completing Middle school, but for undergoing a forced Confirmation as well, and I didn't even get to choose the laptop I wanted! They got an HP Pavilion off of a Discount site that he gets from work, and I don't mean to sound greedy, but there were laptops that were BUILT for gaming that were about 100$ more than the one I'm using that could have been a lot more useful for me. Even on My birthday or a Holiday, the highest he'll go is 40$! And I'm not that demanding, all I ask for is at least a gift card for Steam, or Amazon. And to top it all off, he buys things that are more expensive than all the electronics I own combined for himself, and occasionally my mom!
Finally, he has a major problem with the way I live my life, and he's almost ruined it twice in the past 2 years. Gaming is a big part of my life, as is my Laptop. He got it into his head that gaming is entirely bad for me, no matter what the circumstances, but he uses BS excuses and Stereotypes to try to get me off. He says that I'll become Fat and Obese, with many diseases, when a majority of this summer I've practically skipped lunch, and I barely eat anything unhealthy (Mostly because My mom buys snacks that I don't like, and makes healthy versions of foods)! He seems to think that a 15-year-old can't be exposed to obviously fake violence, as well, because He doesn't like me watching Youtube Commentaries with Swearing, or Playing games like CoD or Bioshock, games that have VIRTUAL blood and violence. He recently put a Time Limit on my
PC via Kaspersky (too bad he's not the brightest of office workers, I figured out the password easily!
), and along with it restrictions on everything a 5-year-old can't know. All because someone on the internet, something he says shouldn't always be trusted, wrote an article on some news website, about how "Computer Media is bad for your children!". He is constantly getting into fights with me about not only this, but about what kind of clothing I'm wearing, what I'm eating at that moment, what I'd playing, what I'm doing, who my friends are, what I am talking to them about, and an endless amount of things that a normal father could care less about.
Phew, that was a lot of writing on my dad. But now, onto my mom.
My mom is usually a cool person. She could care less about my Gaming habit, and quite frankly, helps a lot more than my dad ever could or would. She'll be fine about some things, but she can turn into a major beotch at a moment's notice.
The Main problem is her anger. She gets angry about very little very quickly. She will constantly raise her voice against me, even about the smallest things. I was asking questions earlier today about what to do at an Airport security checkpoint about my laptop, and she was showing her temper as if she was 7 years old! She also seems to have days where she's pissed all day, but only at me,for some unknown reason. During these days, she'll come into the room I'm in and bother me over and over about things that I know I have to do, or things that aren't relevant to me yet. She will violently yell at me for things that for others would just seem a minor inconvenience, and she can also get so upset that she would punish or, in some cases, slap me hard on the back of the head. She seems to have a hard time controlling herself about anything and everything, and she also seems to think that she has it bad, and that the rest of the family treats her like shit, even though she's treated a hell lot better than my dad is.
She isn't very bright, either, and She's stubborn as well. She has made many mistakes in front of me, that affected me negatively, and she refused to take the blame for her actions, making an excuse for how I caused it. This has happened all but once, where she opened the garage door during a minor flood.
She constantly reminds me of things that happen weekly, as well. It would be thought that it's just a "Helpful reminder", but it's not very helpful when the thing she's reminding you about is something that not only happens every week, but is something you don't like doing or having, but you're still forced to do. She has PHONE and COMPUTER ALARMS for all of this! But the other issue is that when something ABNORMAL happens during the week, like a change of weekly routine days, or a doctor's appointment on a Wednesday, she only reminds me about once or twice! For example, I had to leave for my therapist on Tuesday, but my school had some complicated bell schedule that prevented me from leaving at the normal time, making us late. I would usually receive a note from my mom to turn in to get me out early to go, but on this particular day, she didn't give me a note, she just called and didn't tell me. When I got there late, claiming she didn't give me a note, she yelled at me, saying that I should had assumed she called, because I called from the office the last time because I had lost her note. And this was somehow an excuse for how her being irresponsible is MY fault.
She also has a habit of calling me irresponsible and lazy, when I feed my 2 cats, as well as clean a litter box (Something she refuses to do, even though one of that cats was her Idea to get!), I take out the the trash, mow the lawn, wake myself up and feed myself, get all my homework done mostly on time, and do a ton of other things FOR her. She might do a lot more for me than my dad does, and that saying that "Laziness is stupid" would make me a Hypocrite, but it doesn't give her an excuse to not do something like pick up a cup next to her, but to call me from across the house instead, all because it was mine! (Not to sound lazy, but why not pick it up and then nag me? THEN I would understand and learn to NOT leave a soda cup out!)
Both my parents are equally stressing me out. I completely despise my dad now, I hate the weekends because of him, and I am happy when he's on a business trip or overnight stay somewhere. My mom's anger and frequently annoying habits are pissing me off every day, and her part-time incompetence is driving me up the wall! I've searched all over the web for solutions, but it seems nobody else that has a computer has parents like mine, because they're either Above or below these nutcases of parent! There are no Laws that I've seen that allow me to take legal action against what's going on, nor are there any loopholes to get me out of this Crazy-fest and into an actual house! They don't seem to pay any mind to my therapist's words, and the school can't do anything about it unless it's frequent Physical! Is there anything I can do to either get me out of here legally, or to get my parents some classes to teach them how to be ACTUAL parents?!
-Greg P., AGamerLivinginaMadHouse