Personality Change

My niece, Marie, 12 years old, came to stay with my mom for a week. During that time I hung out with them. We went to Santa Barbara on a train. We shopped til we dropped. We saw a few movies and we went swimming with my grand daughter Polly. Marie was on her best behavior. She was out to please. But at the end of the week when her mom drove out to pick her up, Marie's whole personality changed. She became a whiner, a martyr, a victim, and annoying. I could not believe the difference in her personality. It was actually quite interesting. I have always said that children behave differently when they are around their parents, but Marie is 12 years old. Shouldn't she be over it by now? It is sad to watch children nowadays take advantage of their parents; driving their parents crazy, acting like a 2 year old. They might as well lay on the floor, kicking and screaming. But, isn't the reality, they learn it from us? Aren't we as parents, aunts, and grandmothers, the role models? We are the ones who need to grow up. We need to quit manipulating the system. We think we are mature and yet it is us grownups who are always whining, complaining, crying, and throwing miserable self pity parties. The sad fact is, kids learn it from us. I learned a lot from Marie during that day. I will try to set a better example.