Edited by Psycho on 07/21/01 05:51 PM.

Edited by Pyrotechnist on 07/21/01 09:49 PM.

I have a daughter that's going to be 16 in a couple of days. She smokes, takes X and acid too. There's not really very much I can say to her except" Don't do X more than once a month, and be sure to take your 5-HTP suppliment before and after you roll." It's not like she ever listened before ;) She goes to an adult high-school now because the regular schools won't take her back. It's not that she's a hell-raiser or anything. It's just the she's not easily programmed, and she doen't know how to reject what she's told with out getting in trouble over it yet. I'm sorry that she has to go through all this, but I'm really proud of her for being an individual and thinking for herself.
Most parents are just kids that grew up, had sex, got married and had kids. They know as much about being parents as you do. It turns out that your parents, regardless of what they may actually *think* about a thing, are generally going to react to a situation the same way *their* parents did. It's the only experience they have. Like, if they catch you sneaking out at night, they're going to react a certain way. Thinking realistically, if you catch *your* kids sneaking out at night, you're going to react the same way your parents did, because that's the only way you've *seen* to react to that situation.
I try to treat my daughter the same way I would have liked to have been treated when I was 16. She's a lot like me and we're really good friends. I hardly ever hassle her, except to tease her by saying things like, "You say you hate cops, but then you keep doing stuff that makes them come around you." ;) Eventually she'll be ok.
Maybe when you all have kids you'll think about what it was like for you, and you won't have the knee-jerk reactions a lot of parents have.
Good luck,
mrpaslow