Whine whine moan bitch complain
So here's the question. If one is focusing on trying to write something not quite NaNoWriMo length, say 15,000-25,000 words (but cheating and using NaNo to spur her efforts), and then edit it once or twice, and submit it to a, truthfully, not very large self-publishing company, which has just started up and is run by people she's stalked known on lj for awhile, is one entitled to be rather stressed? The rather obvious answer to this is yes, one is entitled to be stressed. But here's my problem.
While being a poor college student spending two years at community college before transferring in order to save some cash, my parents were generous enough to let me continue to live with them, paying no rent, with the understanding that I would be taking classes while under their roof, and I would be paying for most of those classes on my own. It's basically a 'we'll help you, but we won't support you' kind of deal. Which is good, I really appreciate it. We're having some issues finding me a job, but that's being taken care of at the moment.
At the moment, I'm trying to deal with this story and submitting it, working out plot issues, character development, etc. On top of that, I'm experiencing mild seasonal depression, like I always do, plus I'm trying to take up swimming again, plus doing homework for my classes, plus applying for one job a day online (which I'm actually getting conflicting stories on from my parents, but whatever), plus helping my brother with his English/Spanish homework, since he's going through his 'I'm a grumpy, angsty teen' phase, and we're trying to support him, even though he's trying. There's other stuff too, doctor's appointment, signing up for tests, picking up prescriptions, blah blah blah. That, plus my recent *ahem* issues at this time of month, have left me kind of spread ridiculously thin, since most of my free time is spent either typing/fixing/working on my story, or poking sullenly at it, depending on my mood that day. So is it fair for my father to expect me to do all my chores around the house, consistently and thoroughly (like I used to do throughout the summer, when I was still savoring my freedom from high school), when I have a billion other things on my plate?
I'm not saying that some of this isn't my fault. I know I have chores I have to do, such as cleaning the kitchen daily and cleaning the downstairs bathroom and whatever my mom asks me to do before she leaves for work on the days I have no classes. I do try and do my best to do them, but on the days where I have classes for half the day (poor college student is only affording two classes), and I get home, I eat, I take a half hour break, and then I start in on whatever is most important, homework or writing or exercising or whatever. The reason I have a problem with my dad yelling at me for not finishing the dishes (which involves wiping down counters and appliances and sweeping the floor as well as filling the dishwasher and washing all the pots and pans), is that my dad, while verbally supportive of my writing, has never really...put that into practice, shall we say. For instance, when my mom shouts up, 'Hey! Whatcha doing?' in the tone of voice that means she needs something, and I say, 'Uh, writing?', she'll go, 'Oh. Never mind, I'll find your brother!', unless she just needs something done really quickly. Whereas my dad, if he sees me with papers spread out across the floor because I'm trying to edit and move parts of my plots around, will ask me if there isn't something I could do to help out, instead of just messing around (my mother, in the same situation, will just move around me and only ask me to move or help her if I'm in her way or she just needs another hand for a minute).
So the problem is, when my mom says, 'You know, you should probably focus a bit more on your chores and finding a job, you've been a bit crazy about your story recently', I go, 'Oh. Yeah, okay Mom, I'll wait on beating out this plot problem for awhile.', but when my dad says that I need to take my responsibilities seriously, and that if I don't contribute around this house, they're going to kick me out, it just makes me upset and angry, because I'm trying to, but it's hard for me to focus on too many things at once, like learning how to handle all these things my parents previously handled (doctor's appointments, prescriptions), trying to find a job, homework and school, and my writing. I'm so busy trying to learn how to juggle everything that I fall behind in my chores and responsibilities around the house.
So the question is this: is my dad right for yelling at me for not completing my responsibilities around the house (aka not doing the dishes), and telling me that until I start acting like an adult, he's not going to treat me like one? There were other things in his lecture that I agree with that I have been not doing that I should (for instance, taking responsibility in the house because I live in it and should shoulder some of the burden, and not asking for help because I have too much stubborn pride and I hate asking for help), but these are the ones that I feel were unfair. I'm not saying I've been perfect in either of these areas, but I am just starting out with being a true adult and discovering all that means. Is it right for him to yell at me about this when I'm still trying to learn everything I need to balance and how to do it? He accused me of playing online games (which I haven't, I cheated and went through a walkthrough for one a short while ago, cutting out my writing time for that day) and messing around, but I'm not giving up my writing nor putting it under messing around, and I'm not going to tell him when I'm writing, because he'll just see it as messing around and make me come down and do the dishes (which takes at least an hour to complete everything, which is why I hate interrupting my writing for it).
What do you guys think?
While being a poor college student spending two years at community college before transferring in order to save some cash, my parents were generous enough to let me continue to live with them, paying no rent, with the understanding that I would be taking classes while under their roof, and I would be paying for most of those classes on my own. It's basically a 'we'll help you, but we won't support you' kind of deal. Which is good, I really appreciate it. We're having some issues finding me a job, but that's being taken care of at the moment.
At the moment, I'm trying to deal with this story and submitting it, working out plot issues, character development, etc. On top of that, I'm experiencing mild seasonal depression, like I always do, plus I'm trying to take up swimming again, plus doing homework for my classes, plus applying for one job a day online (which I'm actually getting conflicting stories on from my parents, but whatever), plus helping my brother with his English/Spanish homework, since he's going through his 'I'm a grumpy, angsty teen' phase, and we're trying to support him, even though he's trying. There's other stuff too, doctor's appointment, signing up for tests, picking up prescriptions, blah blah blah. That, plus my recent *ahem* issues at this time of month, have left me kind of spread ridiculously thin, since most of my free time is spent either typing/fixing/working on my story, or poking sullenly at it, depending on my mood that day. So is it fair for my father to expect me to do all my chores around the house, consistently and thoroughly (like I used to do throughout the summer, when I was still savoring my freedom from high school), when I have a billion other things on my plate?
I'm not saying that some of this isn't my fault. I know I have chores I have to do, such as cleaning the kitchen daily and cleaning the downstairs bathroom and whatever my mom asks me to do before she leaves for work on the days I have no classes. I do try and do my best to do them, but on the days where I have classes for half the day (poor college student is only affording two classes), and I get home, I eat, I take a half hour break, and then I start in on whatever is most important, homework or writing or exercising or whatever. The reason I have a problem with my dad yelling at me for not finishing the dishes (which involves wiping down counters and appliances and sweeping the floor as well as filling the dishwasher and washing all the pots and pans), is that my dad, while verbally supportive of my writing, has never really...put that into practice, shall we say. For instance, when my mom shouts up, 'Hey! Whatcha doing?' in the tone of voice that means she needs something, and I say, 'Uh, writing?', she'll go, 'Oh. Never mind, I'll find your brother!', unless she just needs something done really quickly. Whereas my dad, if he sees me with papers spread out across the floor because I'm trying to edit and move parts of my plots around, will ask me if there isn't something I could do to help out, instead of just messing around (my mother, in the same situation, will just move around me and only ask me to move or help her if I'm in her way or she just needs another hand for a minute).
So the problem is, when my mom says, 'You know, you should probably focus a bit more on your chores and finding a job, you've been a bit crazy about your story recently', I go, 'Oh. Yeah, okay Mom, I'll wait on beating out this plot problem for awhile.', but when my dad says that I need to take my responsibilities seriously, and that if I don't contribute around this house, they're going to kick me out, it just makes me upset and angry, because I'm trying to, but it's hard for me to focus on too many things at once, like learning how to handle all these things my parents previously handled (doctor's appointments, prescriptions), trying to find a job, homework and school, and my writing. I'm so busy trying to learn how to juggle everything that I fall behind in my chores and responsibilities around the house.
So the question is this: is my dad right for yelling at me for not completing my responsibilities around the house (aka not doing the dishes), and telling me that until I start acting like an adult, he's not going to treat me like one? There were other things in his lecture that I agree with that I have been not doing that I should (for instance, taking responsibility in the house because I live in it and should shoulder some of the burden, and not asking for help because I have too much stubborn pride and I hate asking for help), but these are the ones that I feel were unfair. I'm not saying I've been perfect in either of these areas, but I am just starting out with being a true adult and discovering all that means. Is it right for him to yell at me about this when I'm still trying to learn everything I need to balance and how to do it? He accused me of playing online games (which I haven't, I cheated and went through a walkthrough for one a short while ago, cutting out my writing time for that day) and messing around, but I'm not giving up my writing nor putting it under messing around, and I'm not going to tell him when I'm writing, because he'll just see it as messing around and make me come down and do the dishes (which takes at least an hour to complete everything, which is why I hate interrupting my writing for it).
What do you guys think?