I said “I’m on my way”, arrived my teen got in the car said “hey” I responded ‘whats up’ and we drove home in silence. No “thanks for picking me up” nothing at all. And when my partner said “you know you could thank your dad for picking you up” my teen responded “I did”. They did not.
The response is, “I hear you telling me that you did. I believe you. Your brain is telling you that you did. My brain is telling me that you didn’t. So, help me out here, and do it again so that I can shut my brain up?”
Because you do believe them, right? Otherwise you are insisting they lie to your face. “Hey, I know you aren’t thankful whatsoever but I’m going to need you to say the exact opposite to me, k. Give me a full 180 degree lie from your actual feelings on the matter. I’m not interested in you, just in rituals.”
Also, it is super great that your kid is rude to you. I know it doesn’t seem that way, but it means that despite all the rest of your dysfunctions, kiddo feels secure in your unending support. We fawn where we think we stand to be abandoned. Kiddo isn’t fawning. Kiddo knows they won’t be abandoned. That’s a great seed from which a beautiful relationship can grow once some brambles are trimmed back. (Note, this rude-is-good is only for child-to-parent. No other relationship can this rule be applied to.)
Join kid. What does kid like to do? Can you go along to it?
Kid is clearly not part of “we”. Kid needs to be part of “we”. Otherwise, for all the lip service you are doing about how you are reaching out, you’ve othered kid.