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Mutanatia
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12 Jan 2010, 7:21 pm

My brother has this... "thing" whereas he thinks that I am trying to be his third parent. I am not trying to do so. Today, I was talking to him, and his voice sounded very sharp and loud; to be frank, it actually hurt my ears. So, I asked him to lower his voice. He copped an attitude with me as a result and subsequently stopped talking to me and when I explained to him that he was hurting me ears, he made fun of me, not believing that his voice could actually hurt my ears. When I told him that when someone makes a request for convenience's sake, it should be honored. He responded by mock-worshipping me and called me "Oh mighty master," or something like that.

My question is really twofold.

#1: I remember the days when he and I used to get a long very well. Of course, he was like...4-6 back then (he's 15 now). I want to return to those days, but it looks like that's not going to happen *sigh*. Is it even POSSIBLE for me to have a DECENT conversation with him without him hurting my ears and then copping an attitude about that when I ask him to lower his voice?

#2: Probably the more relevant question here: At the risk of seeming like a "Third parent," it is okay for me to ask him to lower his voice, or is that being like a parent to him? (AKA: Was my request out of line?)

EDIT: I guess this was actually threefold: How do I take this attitude without taking it to heart? I really want to get to know him better, but every time I talk to him, I'm quite frankly afraid that he's going to cop an attitude with me if I have even the most basic of requests :(



Last edited by Mutanatia on 12 Jan 2010, 7:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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12 Jan 2010, 7:23 pm

Sounds pretty typical to me.


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CleverKitten
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12 Jan 2010, 7:51 pm

Your brother is way outta line.
You are being very reasonable.

But he sounds exactly like my own brother. He'll take offense to anything and everything. If you try to explain, he'll take offense to that too.

My brother and I used to get along great, before he hit adolescence. I tried to be as nice as possible to him, but he only displayed rude behavior, accusing me of being patronizing and condescending.
I never could recover that relationship, so I cut it off completely. He practically doesn't exist to me anymore. Better to have no relationship at all, than a bad one.

Not that the relationship between you and your brother will turn out like mine did. Perhaps your brother will be more reasonable, once his hormones settle.


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Stinkypuppy
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12 Jan 2010, 8:15 pm

It's very common for teenagers to act like that. I wouldn't take it too personally.


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12 Jan 2010, 8:38 pm

As the others have said, it's typical teenage behaviour.

About the voice, it's a reasonable request. Although he possibly doesn't believe you because he hasn't/doesn't experience it.



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13 Jan 2010, 9:35 am

He needs a "theoretical" backhand across the teeth as most teenagers do. Stop talking to him until he respects your auditory needs. When his mouth talks right, your ears will then listen.