I seem to run into trouble these days with my teenagers in regard to accountability, homework, language, lying etc., etc.  For spending much of my career working with teenagers it is really hard for my to swallow.  Not that I never rebelled as a teenager, I think it was the lack of a filter on my mouth and general inability to master the art of deception that kept me on the straight and narrow.  In addition, I always carried a deep seeded belief that my speed of light karmic turnaround would throw every deception back in my face anyway.  What is even more frustrating is that my sons, who also have  my quick karma gene but without my aptitude for common sense continue to believe that if they follow an infraction with “It’s not my fault” coupled with the indignity of being challenged, that they should avoid punishment.  ONLY IT NEVER WORKS.  I keep thinking that they will eventually learn from experience and my constant reminder that people who never take responsibility for their actions force the universe to keep giving them the same lesson over and over again only in a much bigger and badder way…and the promise that with such beautiful faces such as theirs, they will be the most popular men in the whole penitentiary..(and yes, I did say that).  There are so many times I want to yell at them, when caught red-handed  “HOW STUPID ARE YOU”  but I know that would be mean. (as an aside, being mean and speaking the truth about prison bait are two separate issues)  For example, there is no way one can logically defend using a parents credit card for an online gaming purchase without permission, or when the rule for using the Xbox is a minimum of  C work, and all your homework in and you get caught using it when you are missing every assignment for the week and failing every class.  (exaggerations mine)  I’m far from perfect…I was a teenager who like most, tried to avoid punishment.  But seriously, you can ask my parents, I never pulled the shit that mine do.  It wasn’t that I was more afraid of them than mine are of me, or that I was a saint myself.   I was simply figured out that if you do the crime, you do the time.   It just didn’t make sense to blame someone else for my choices given the karmic bitch slap that would come quickly if I tried.  So, I’m helping them…every electronic device and their machinery is hidden offsite…FOREVER.  My prayer today is that they learn to reap what they have sown, and that by doing so they will discover that they won’t dissolve like salt on a leech.  Life doesn’t stop because they made a mistake, but until they learn the lesson it certainly will repeat itself…and I really, really don’t want to visit them in prison.