i HATE teenagers

Some of you may know that I have a 9 year old daughter.  Right now, I hate her.

No, I love her, but I hate her teenager-lite* ways.

She is hitting puberty in a major way and life is just about the suckiest thing ever for the both of us.  Her constant bouts of hormone-derived insanity is going to cause me to lapse into a fugue and kick her dead in her neck or punch her right on the side of the head.  If you see me on the news one day...you already know what happened.

Sometimes I fell like I need to put her up for adoption for the next 10-15 years and then reclaim her once she's grown because I just can't take much more of the mini daytime dramas that happen at least 3-4 times per day.  I feel like I'm living with a brown Erica Kane (please google this chick if you don't know who she is...she is the ULTIMATE!!!)

The most recent drama...she wants her hair cut short.

Now, some of you may know that my daughter has a ton of hair and it is very long...just a couple of inches from her rear-end.  Her hair isn't kinky like mine in the least bit.  There is no "nap," just some frizz in certain sections.  When she gets individual braids or cornrows, she doesn't need any Yaki or Kanekalon to get the ill hang-time (much to the amazement of some of the girls in her dance class). Like most wavy/curlies, the hair tangles easily.  Her hair is no exception.  So, while I'm combing out her hair to braid it up so she can sleep without fear of the dreaded fiend "Matted Bed-Head" attacking her poor head in the middle of the night, she asks me (for the 2nd time today) if she can give her hair to me and she wants it cut short because it is really just too much to take 5 min out of the day to detangle PRIOR to the formation of her hairstyle.

I want to tell her to shut up and stop being a dumb-dumb.  Instead, I tell her fine and i'm making an appt for her this weekend to get the mess chopped off.  I'm so tired of her feeling like life is such a burden.  It makes me tired and grumpy.

The question now is...Should I cut off her hair?  It might actually look good on her.  Also, with less hair, there's less braiding for me and easier hair washing (she might be able to do it herself and it won't take 1/2 a bottle of shampoo and conditioner to get the job done...thank God!!).  However, if she hates it, I can throw it in her face!!!  That aspect excites me thoroughly. 

Am I a bad mother?  Probably, but oh well.  It is what it is and that's all there is to it.

*Teenager-lite: teenage angst without the actual age behind it to say that it's teenage angst. a level of drama that typically oozes from a (pre)teen, but is actually emitted from an individual a little younger...like say a 9 year-old girl.