Help Me, Bubby!

Other Bubby Books at Amazon:

Bubby Irma's Kitchen
Charles

Yiddish Your Bubbe Never Taught You
Emmes

Poetry by Jewish Grandaughters
Newman

Bubbe & Gram
Hawxhurst

Bubbe's Kitchen
Waxman

My Bubbe's Arms
Reudor

Bubbie & Zeide's Favorite Language
Solomon

Bennett and His Bubbe's Beau
Feigenbaum

Click to learn more about Bubby's book

Site Disclaimer
Send your questions to helpmebubby@yahoo.com
Sunday, July 9, 2006
   
Dear Bubby,

I am 14 years old. I do well in school, have lots of great friends, and my family is well off. But I don’t think I could be more unhappy.
My mom is always telling me that I am inconsiderate, mean, self-centered, and so on. My brother calls me names I can’t repeat. My father isn’t nearly as bad, but he puts an intense amount of stress on me to do well in school so that I’ll be a doctor. He tells me that my best just isn’t good enough.

All I really want is them to love me.
I got kicked out of my carpool because I am kind of forgetful. It was very hard for me to keep track of who was driving what days. On two occasions I got mixed up and they got angry. They yelled at me and my mom. She yelled at me. My dad yelled at me. Now I have to stay after school for several hours till my parents can get me.

It makes me sad.
I really want my parents to hug me and tell me they love me.

One of my female teachers was really nice to me. She told me I was smart. She told me she enjoyed reading the essays I wrote. She treated me like I was worth something. It made me so sad that she was not my mother. She hugged me once after I came back to school from a long term illness. I almost cried.


Bubby, what do I do? I’ve been trying my best to be a good child, to not disappoint them.


Sincerely,

Sad and Confused


Dear Sad and Confused,

I am so sorry that you are having so much trouble, and I will make some suggestions.

First, I think you should ask your parents to sit down and have a talk with you. Tell them how you feel. That all this criticism is making you sick and even worse. I am sure your family wants only the best for you, but they are going about it the wrong way.

As for your brother, he should mind his own business and not complain about you. I think that it would be a good and healthly idea if you spoke to your teacher and told her about this. Ask her if she would visit with your parents and talk to them. This situation has happened in many families and it is not new to your teacher.

Clearing the air now is more important than "sweeping it under the rug", so to speak. At your age you should not have these problems.

Give my suggestions a try and please let me know how it came out.

Best of luck,

1 OPINIONS ADDED

Be smart..and understand that your parents pushing you so hard is a sign of love. Do your best, try to take their pushing in stride, and take it as a sign that they want the best for you. They are doing their best, but maybe their best isn't good enough. Sound familiar? There are all kinds of parents out there, and you don't get to choose your parents. You CAN choose how you will respond though. Try to hear what they mean, not what they say. Someday, you will have your turn to be a parent, and you will push your children as well. But, you will throw in more hugs and encouragement. You'll be fine; just listen to all their advise, take the best of it, and realize time is passing, and you will be an adult someday soon. Relax, and don't wish this time of your life away.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:07 PM  

Post a Comment

"Help Me, Bubby!" Disclaimer
By submitting a letter to this website, you grant Help Me, Bubby! permission to publish it on this site or elsewhere including print publications. Your letter will only include an anonymous signature that you provide or that we use to substitute for your real name. Your email address will never be included or distributed. Due to the large number of letters received, there is no guarantee that a letter will be responded to. Any information or advice given at Help Me, Bubby! is not intended to provide an alternative to professional medical treatment or to replace the advice or services of a physician or psychiatrist. Neither Bubby nor her granddaughters are professional therapists or medical experts. If you have any serious medical or mental problem, please consult a professional. Although all this advice is offered lovingly from the heart and in good spirit, we are not responsible in any way for your decision to accept or reject the advice or the results thereafter.

Powered by Blogger FeedBurner.com Logo

Click to learn more about Bubby's book


Bubby is our 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93 94 year old grandmother.
A few years ago we introduced her to the internet and we've been getting daily e-mails from her ever since. When she was 87, we began this website. We now believe she is the oldest blogger on the Internet.

Whether Bubby is reminding us that boyfriends do not substitute for warm jackets in the winter, or that it's better to receive a compliment than a brick, she always has something to say to her granddaughters.

Now with this new website, Bubby can finally share her wisdom with the rest of the world. And she's excited about it! (Which confuses us, because she used to say we were all she needed.)

Hopefully this will be as much fun for new readers as it will surely be for her. And if not, well, as Bubby says, it will all come out in the wash.

So, are you looking for advice on food, work, a broken heart, or the perfect bat mitzvah present?

But no dirty words allowed or you'll only get one matzah ball.


Bald and oblivious
Denim diagnosis
Girls are weird
Halloween ideas
I smell him from here
I'm gonna marry you
How to meet a man
Nerds go far
Political predictions
Sloppy spouse
Tastes like chicken



Voted "Blog Of Note" on Blogger.com (2003)
4-star Review from The Weblog Review (1.5.04)
Voted "Blog Of The Day" by The Blog Hunter
Voted "Blog Of The Day" by Eugene.com
Featured in the Tampa Tribune online
Featured in USA TODAY (4.22.04)
Bubby's first radio interview - 96.5 WOXL (5.4.04)
JewsWeek Jewriffic Award: "Best blog of the week" (6.6.04)
New York Times: Letter to the Editor (6.11.04)
Jerusalem Post: Feature article (7.2.04)
Interview for Akron, Ohio newspaper (aug.'04)
Golden Web Page Award (dec.'04)
Reader's Digest article, "Me Me Media" (july.'05)
Netscape.com: "Alternative Site of the Day" (aug.'05)
AARP Magazine article: July/August 2006 issue
Listed as "Cool Site Of The Day": (7.27.06)
O Globo Online: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (aug.'06)

Bubby on itunes
Holding Myself Back
Where's My Glory?
End Of The World
Overprotected
17 And Pregnant
The Other Woman
Grandma Troubles



Other Jewish Bloggers:
80-year old Millie
Nice Jewish Doctor
Send us your links!


Creative Commons License
All content and images
on this website are
licensed under a
Creative Commons License.