Got carried away writing about a drawing in a book

[VaderTater]

I got this book (McGraw Hill Easy Spanish Reader) and one of the exercises is to write "as much as you can" about a drawing of a family in their house. I got a little carried away, as usual, and ran into some things that I'm not sure how to say. What I wrote:
La madre está triste porque los hijos no les gusta hablar con ella. Ella is tan joven y siente que su vida es vacío y sin sentido. Pero ella debe quedar para los niños.
Enrique lee el periodico mientra espera para los otros a acostarse. En la noche Enrique no puede dormir. En cambio, él mira fotografia de moda por todo la noche. Él sabe que su padre está decepcionado porque su padre quiere Enrique ser mecanico. Su padre piensa que moda es solo para las mujeres pero a Enrique no otra cosa es importante.

What I'm trying to say, in case it's not clear:
The mother is sad because the kids don't like to speak to her. She is so young and she feels like her life is empty and meaningless. But she must stay for the kids.
Enrique reads the newpaper while he waits for the others to go to bed. In the night Enrique can't sleep. Instead he looks at fashion photography all through the night. He knows that his father is disappointed because his father wants Enrique to be a mechanic. His father thinks that fashion is only for women but to Enrique nothing else matters.

Any ways that I could translate it better?
Maybe "nothing else matters" doesn't translate exactly? But it's such a great phrase!
This was a good exercise for me. I reviewed gustar, reflexive verbs, and possessive adjectives. I've forgotten so much. And I don't even want to think about trying to use tenses other than present right now!
Any help you guys can give is appreciated!

[Rusty]

Good job.

I've marked what needs to fixed in red, with some notes in purple.

Originally Posted by VaderTater

La madre está triste porque () los hijos no les gusta hablar con ella.
(The indirect object pronoun is correct, but the indirect object is lacking a word.)

Ella is tan joven y siente que su vida es vacío y sin sentido.
(Check spellings.)

Pero ella debe quedar() para los niños.
(The verb needs to be pronominal. There is another word for the 'kids' of a parent.)

Enrique lee el periodico mientra() espera para los otros a acostarse.
('Esperar' is a verb that triggers the use of the subjunctive mood in a subjunctive clause (since the subject is changing). A conjunction introduces the subjunctive clause, which follows the verb in the main clause. You'll need to conjugate 'acostarse' in the present subjunctive. The preposition isn't needed. Instead of 'otros', I suggest 'demás'.)

En la noche Enrique no puede dormir.
(Use another preposition - look at how to say 'at night' or 'during the night'.)

En cambio, (él) mira fotografia() de moda por todo la noche.
(Look up 'instead'. Remove 'por'.)

(Él) sabe que su padre está decepcionado porque su padre quiere () Enrique ser mecanico.
(Instead of repeating 'su padre', use a pronoun. 'Querer' is a verb of volition. Since the subject is changing, a subjunctive clause must be used and its verb will be cast in the subjunctive mood. So, insert a conjunction after the main verb ('quiere') and conjugate 'ser' in the present subjunctive mood.)

Su padre piensa que () moda es solo para las mujeres, pero a Enrique no otra cosa es importante.
(You're missing an article. The rest of the your translation works, except that the preposition is not right (think 'for'). There are other ways to say that last part, like 'nada más importa'. You could also retain the preposition that you wrote, if you change 'Enrique' to be an indirect object, and add the indirect object pronoun 'le' prior to the verb 'importa'.)

The present indicative tense that you wrote into your sentences was a good refresher course, but where the subjunctive mood is also required, you'll need to use a subjunctive clause with a present subjunctive verb instead of the English-like infinitive. The English-like construction you used just doesn't work in Spanish (if the subject changes after a verb that triggers the subjunctive). If the subject doesn't change, the use of the infinitive is proper.
You should learn the difference between using the indicative mood and the subjunctive mood from the get-go. Both moods are very commonly used, and there is a right time and a wrong time to use them.

[VaderTater]

Thank you for the awesome reply! I need to review grammar in general before I can understand your post! It definitely gives me something to work on.

[Rusty]

Some people hate the grammar terms, but you can't learn how to use Spanish vocabulary without the grammar that defines how the vocabulary fits together. If you want, we can give examples of how the phrasing should be used and let you work on trying to figure out how it applies to your sentences.

[VaderTater]

No that's okay. It would probably be best to get out my old textbook and start at the beginning. I don't mind the grammar terms. I just have to relearn them. I don't remember learning about subjective, but now that I know the word for it I can kind of see why some of my sentences don't work.