Okay, it's true that the 14 year old should probably be a little less obviously disrespectful to his dad... although, yeah, he's 14 and I don't think his behavior here is even remotely similar to his future behavior at his first job.
And it's very true that LW's wife is in the wrong. It's not about "showing a united front", it's about the fact that if you didn't want your husband to be your son's father, you probably should not have married him when your son was still in preschool and definitely should not have agreed to the adoption. It is really inappropriate to pull the "you're not the real father" line now. I'd expect that from the teen, but from the mom?
However, with that said - LW is not winning parenting awards if the conversations are literally running "Who're you talking to?" "I'm an adult and don't have to answer to you!"
That is an excessively defensive response to what is really nothing more than immaturity. (And if LW's son is doing this primarily because LW cannot let him pick up the phone without interrogating him, or go outside without facing the third degree, then I think we know why the kid has chosen this particular button to keep pushing.) Find some other answer that doesn't rile both of you up.
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And it's very true that LW's wife is in the wrong. It's not about "showing a united front", it's about the fact that if you didn't want your husband to be your son's father, you probably should not have married him when your son was still in preschool and definitely should not have agreed to the adoption. It is really inappropriate to pull the "you're not the real father" line now. I'd expect that from the teen, but from the mom?
However, with that said - LW is not winning parenting awards if the conversations are literally running "Who're you talking to?" "I'm an adult and don't have to answer to you!"
That is an excessively defensive response to what is really nothing more than immaturity. (And if LW's son is doing this primarily because LW cannot let him pick up the phone without interrogating him, or go outside without facing the third degree, then I think we know why the kid has chosen this particular button to keep pushing.) Find some other answer that doesn't rile both of you up.