I agree with you. I’ve never thrown boiling water on my kid, but I did have a teenage daughter... even she’ll admit that she pushed every button... AS HARD AS SHE COULD. One time I very nearly lost it, but I stopped myself before I acted. (Turns out that she was intentionally trying to get me to hit her so that she could turn me in and get the court to grant her independence. Glad, for my son’s sake, that I didn’t fall for it.)
She didn’t straighten up until my husband returned from Iraq and basically forced her to take every step that he did. (Up at 5AM... eat the same breakfast... go to PT with him for an hour... 9 hours at work... eat the same lunch... no facial piercings, no black clothes, no weird hair, PT after work for two hours...)
Kept her so exhausted that she couldn’t run away or rebel. A ‘friend’ of hers did suggest that she do that (I was monitoring her emails) and she said that she was too tired.
Girls are a nightmare after 15.
I am a single parent. Always have been.
The reasons do not matter at this point.
It is what it is.
The very best environment for rearing children includes a mother and a father, 24/7.
That's not always possible, for many reasons.
I've often thought the ancient “fostering” system makes absolute sence when it comes to teenagers.
Swapping your kid with someones else’s for the final few years of childhood...solves a lot of problems for everyone involved.