I was in tears today over my 10 year old cousin. I just need to vent because every time it crosses my mind, I get upset again.

My cousin was born when I was in middle school. It had been about a decade since a baby had been born in our family, so it was exciting. I spent my teen years spending time with him and looking forward to babysitting him on the weekends. He was an incredibly cute and sweet child...until he was about 5 years old. I think most of this stems from the fact that he is spoiled like no other child I've ever met (and I'm a teacher, so that's saying a lot).

At 4, he got a Wii. At 5, he received a playstation for Christmas. A few years ago, he got a Nintendo DS. NONE of these things last over 2 months before he destroys them (usually on purpose). He wanted a cell phone for the past 2 years. A few weeks before he turned 9 (his birthday is on Christmas), his parents gave him a cell phone for no reason...it wasn't a Christmas or birthday present..it was "just because." He got angry with his parents and threw it into the Christmas tree and broke it. He has his dad's Droid in his hands at all times when he's not at school and he's broken his parents' phones countless times because he gets mad and he knows they'll just buy another one for him to play with.

This child is so obsessed with electronic gadgets that it drives me crazy. He wants a LAPTOP now. Not to mention, he never helps with any chores or does anything without being asked a million times. He has NO responsibilities, yet gets "rewarded" all the time. He is utterly disrespectful to everyone. He called his dad a "G.D. Bastard," but actually used the words. This made my grandmother cry which in turn pissed me off so badly. I am a pre-k teacher and my 4 year olds behave with more maturity than this 10 year old.

Onto what happened today... My cousin (and aunt/uncle) lives next door to my parents and my grandparents live across the street. DH and I live an hour away, but as I only work 20 minutes from them, sometimes I stop by after work to visit. My family is really close (physically and emotionally) and they're having a hard time with the fact that I live an hour away. I was at my grandparents house today when my cousin walked in and started arguing with everyone. As I said, I teach FOUR year olds and they behave because they are taught to (by their parents and by teachers at school). This child doesn't have consequences at all. After being at work all day with kids, I'm not about to deal with a child who is so completely rude to me out of nowhere. So, I walked outside because I couldn't deal with his mouth and watching him be rude to my grandparents. After a few minutes, I returned inside to kiss my grandparents goodbye. My cousin said, "Grandaddy, I'm sorry Jennifer is so mean." I looked at him and was like "Really?! What in the world did I do?" and he tried to spit at me!! I tried to say something to him and before I could, my grandfather yelled and told me to leave if I couldn't "behave." I'm 22 years old.

I walked back to my parents house in tears. I love and adore my grandparents. They have a ton of health issues, are isolated from everyone except family, and are fairly depressed. My grandfather gets in these moods and gets mad at the world but it really hurt my feelings

My aunt/uncle (and sometimes grandparents) don't seem to think there's anything wrong with the way my cousin acts. He's 10 and completely rules their household (and tries to control the extended family when he's around). He has already been held back in school for one grade, but he doesn't care about school at all. All he cares about is playing with computers and phones. I have a degree in elementary ed and I'm currently getting my master's in child development/early childhood ed. My sister is in college to be a teacher, yet no one listens to us or seems to understand that the child is headed for major trouble in the future. I love my cousin, but at the same time, I can't stand his personality and I can't be around him at all anymore.

Okay, I feel better now.