Dear Abby: I had a fight with my sister over my nephew’s 13-year-old son. He is generally a happy child and has everything a boy wants in moderation. My sister lives separately from her father. She has primary custody, but they are in a co-parenting relationship.
My nephew respects and obeys his father, but he treats my sister like shit. He yells and constantly talks back to her and his grandmother. When he tried it on me, I took a few choice words and put him in his place. My sister got angry and we got into an argument about it. I think he needs a clear punishment for disrespecting adults. Instead, the sister makes excuses as to why he acts the way he does. “He didn’t sleep well last night. He’s upset about XYZ,” etc.
I know I’m armchair parenting, but I can’t bear to see this child yell at his sister or elderly mother, and I can’t tolerate that kind of behavior towards me. Whenever I try to talk to her about it, we always end up arguing. I stopped spending time with them because of it. Please give me some advice. — Old-fashioned lady
Dear Aunt: Your nephew is entering his turbulent teenage years, and now that he’s at that stage, he may be ready to take action. It is also possible that his mother has not yet made him suffer the consequences of his disrespectful behavior towards you and his grandmother.
Since your sister and your ex-girlfriend are co-parenting, they should both be discussing “respect” for their son. His grandmother also has a tongue, so she shouldn’t be able to forgive her grandson’s misdeeds. Personally, I deal with it by avoiding my child until he straightens up, but that may take forever.
