My nine year old insulted my intelligence last night, multiple times, while I was trying to fix her sewing machine so that we could have some mommy-daughter time. She requested some together time, and then proceeded to jump around like a hyper teenybopper and disrespect me. I didn't have the patience for that, and had to send myself to my room. I was just too afraid of the fit I might throw at the next thing that came out of her mouth. I felt guilty the rest of the night, but shouldn't she learn some respect and social skills? Do I have to put up with being spoken to like that just 'cause I'm her mama and I love her unconditionally??? So then, I come downstairs a little later, hoping to just say something nice to her and smooth things over, and she's watching freaking Lucky Louie! If you haven't seen it, it's an HBO series, which should say it all. It's pretty funny, but soooo inappropriate for a child. She knew better, even if she ignored the ratings. It was pretty clear in the first two minutes of the show that it was not intended for children. Ugh. So, it was ten o'clock, and I told the kids they could just go to bed. The fifteen year old was neck deep in an online RPG and protested loudly that he hadn't even been paying attention to what she was watching. Whatever. I gave them another hour, but they've been going to bed way too late, and spending way too much time in front of the tv and the computer. I turned the tv off and told Reagan she could read in her room until eleven. They complied without further dissent. Reagan knew she'd been caught doing something she shouldn't and knew better than to argue for once.