Family Farce: Teen Wisdom

My daughter tells me she can’t face her friends ever again if she wears winter clothing on Pesach, even though the forecast shows it’ll be 30 degrees. This is not even about the three new outfits and her entire summer weekday wardrobe that she won’t be able to take to camp. Let’s just be practical and make a pact not to freeze.

Look, your daughter is one of my best friends: even I’m  sick of that brown outfit. Styles change and you need to think about your daughter’s self-esteem. Don’t you want her to be popular?  (I would still be nice to her, but I’m just saying.)  Think of the trauma she’ll endure! Think of your grandchildren!

Besides, don’t you know what it says in Pirkei Avos? “Al tifrosh min hatzibbur.” If the rest of the world freezes on Pesach, then I’m sorry, but there is no way to say this nicely: It’s  your responsibility to buy whatever everyone else does, no matter the cost.

S. Baum, 15

Baltimore

I’m a hardworking woman who’s out of the house from nine to four daily. Unfortunately, we can’t afford a ton of cleaning help, especially at post-Covid prices. I think it’s reasonable to request that my teenage daughter clean her room for Pesach on the Sunday after Purim, but she’s giving me such a hard time about it. Can you help me? (As an aside, I’m looking for good, reliable help at a decent rate. If you hear of anything…)

It sounds like you don’t have reliable help so you’re asking your teens to clean for you. Your daughter is, understandably, upset about this. You’re only young once, you know, and pretty soon, she’ll have babies of her own that she’ll thrust on you bedikas chometz night, while she and her husband take a much needed vacation. So it’s only right that you allow her to sleep late and don’t  ask her to clean her own room.

And hello? Don’t you know that making your kids help is basically asking for them to need therapy when they get older? You work them too hard, they get resentful — it becomes a vicious cycle. Do you want that? I think $30 an hour for a cleaning lady is cheaper, but whatever, it’s your life. Just don’t come crying to me in 10 years.