there's the easy jokes about their (Juila's) snide remarks, the times
when they "throw attitude", their (Rebecca's) testing of boundaries....
Surely, these trials we are going through with them at 4 years and 18
months old are preparing us for their adolescent years in some ways.
With every temper tantrum one of the kid's has, husby and I are able to
laugh it off - reflecting on how they are giving us sneak previews into
their hormonal tween and teenage years.
But, there's more warning, or caution that is going into my
understanding of how to be a mom to girls. Many of my favorite bloggers
are posting ambiguous things about how they're so frustrated and
saddened over something that happened at home with their teen. Even a
few facebook friends have updated their status to include something
about parenting a teen.
I certainly don't mean to jump the gun here. Yes, my girls are still
young and I know that I am supposed to enjoy every second I have with
them while they still need me and want me around (most of the time).
But, I can't help but wonder - whats the deal? What is going to happen
to my relationship with my girls that will cause us so much heartache
when they are teenagers?
1 comment:
Don't you remember how you were as a teenager? Did you make mistakes and take uninformed risks and test your parents' patience in any way? Did you ever once think or even say "I hate you" to your parents? I was under the impression that just about every teenager goes through those things...rites of passage so to speak. Unless you were one of the straight A students who never defied their parents and mostly enjoyed having Family Night on the weekends. There's nothing wrong with that at all, I'm just saying I thought everybody went through that teenage angst period!
Listening to Dr. Laura yesterday, she had a caller who wouldn't let her kids EVER sleep over at anyone elses house except for their grandmother's or uncle's. Her kids were 14, 17 and 18. Her 17 year old was currently asking her to let her sleep over at a friends house this weekend and she (mom) was freaking out! She couldn't fathom letting her kids be somewhere where she has no idea what is going on every second with them...ANYONE could come over and join them! They might leave the house without a parent and do STUFF! They might stay up too late!
I felt like this mother was keeping her kids on a VERY tight leash. And really, it's only a matter of time before one of the kids (probably the oldest) figures out that mom just doesn't trust her kids very much if at all! I'm not a mother yet and I'm sure some mothers will disagree with me and that's okay. Maybe you do too. But I think that all teenagers need to test the ways of the world, whether they're right or wrong about how they go about it and one of those ways is sleeping over at friends' houses.
That story has NOTHING to do with your daughters becoming teenagers someday but I thought of it and wanted to share it with you and maybe your other Moms who enjoy your blog! :)
I totally tested my parents as a teen. I made many mistakes that I can now call "stupid mistakes" but that's how I learned to live life. Fortunately, I wasn't really a dangerous teen and I never ended up in jail! :) Horray!
I bet your girls will be very popular among their friends as teenagers! And you'll probably be all of their friends' favorite and coolest mom! You go girl!
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