Teen angst

Teenagers don't fight fair. They're old enough to know your weakness is that you love them totally, and they'll exploit that weakness ruthlessly in an argument. I'm a stay-at-home Dad, and I made that choice so that I could give my kids the most precious gift -- my time. I've been around for all their triumphs and disasters, for every cut knee and bruised ego, for every parent's luncheon in kindergarten, every basketball game in high school (well, most of them). That's why it hurts so badly to have one of them say, "You never have time for me. You don't know anything about my life." I've been doing more freelance writing in the last few years, but I always make time for the kids, no matter what my writing deadline is. I've stopped in the middle of a project countless times to talk to them when they come home from school. Stayed up till 4 AM finishing a writing job because I went to a soccer game or a school play or just took them out for ice cream when I should have been working. And now, I have to hear this? That one of them feels I don't know him? That I don't spend enough time with him? Aaargh.