Tags
Related Posts
Share This
Surviving teenagers
As a lot of you know, I have three kids. They were all pretty young when I began this blog (hard to believe it’s been 4 years now!), but are quickly growing up on me. My son Nick will be 17 next month, Lindsay turns 15 in less than a week, and Baylee is 13 (going on 22). Life gets more interesting, and in many ways, more difficult, every day. It’s funny….in a lot of ways, I always thought that things would be easier when the kids were older. I forgot about the teenage years.
Actually, my son is relatively easy to deal with. He’s a good student, a good athlete, and tends to be fairly easy going. The only place where he can be tough is when it comes to how he deals with his sisters….and most of the time, even that isn’t too bad.
The girls on the other hand….teenage attitude and the competition that comes with two girls living in the same house (and we frequently have a third, too, who all but lives here, at least on the weekends)…it can be tough. Sometimes I don’t know how to deal with the attitude. I don’t have a clue how my mother did it, and as each day goes by, I more and more regret every mean thing I ever said to my mom, and every bit of hell that I put her through. The old saying “paybacks are a bitch” is true, I guess.
What I want to know is this….why do we have to grow to adulthood to learn this? I put my mom through hell, and my girls (especially the youngest) are doing their best to do the same to me. Why can’t there be some magic spell you can cast upon your daughters that makes them realize that the day will come when they regret the attitude?
I guess that would just make life too easy.
My mother died back in 2005 but there is not a day that goes by that I don’t want to go to her and hug her and apologize profusely for everything I ever said and done to her. I guess the magic spell you speak of is motherhood. We think our parents are these super heroes when all they really are, are people just trying their best to make it in the world without leaving too much collateral damage along the way. I miss my mother something terrible. All I can hope for is my son will someday go, “Boy I don’t know why my mother didn’t kill me for everything I put her through, she was a frickin’ saint, and not just a Latter Day one either, lol. Boy I miss her.” Okay, I think I will go cry now. God bless you.
Oh Tammy I am right there with you on the teenage thing. I would give anything to go back 15 years. I hear ya on the girl thing too, they are all drama. I don’t have girls of my own, but I have teen nieces, and my house is filled with teen girls on the week-ends,(where there are teen boys, there are girls). I love them, especially my nieces, but everytime they leave I thank God that they aren’t mine. LOL. Dealing with boys is hard enough, I don’t think I could survive girls.
I guess mothers realise that they were like that if their daughters play up at all!
Dena, You said it perfectly…. The magic spell is motherhood. Only when they grow up and have children of their own will they appreciate and realize what a mother endures.
I, too lost my mother when I was 14. I had regrets for the longest time because I was a typical teen and didn’t appreciate her at the time like I should have. {I wasn’t cruel and mean} just attitude and that sort of thing. lol
Their paybacks will be when their children do the same to them. :( and even then we wouldn’t want to see them go through it.
It will pass quickly, time flies and before we know it they are all grown up.
Hey Tammy,
Kai is only four so I can only speak from my experience as a high school teacher (I work with 16-18 yr olds). The biggest gripe they have about parents is that their parents don’t listen to them. What they want is someone to listen to and talk to them. Now I am not saying you do that but in our busy lives, you can get caught up talking on the run and it may not be quality conversation.
Believe me, my students tell me so much and when I ask if they also tell their parents the same thing, most say no. Some say they think their parents wouldn’t understand (I am around their parents age so that’s not the reason). I know it is hard for me to find the balance between being the disciplinarian and someone they can feel comfortable talking to. I generally start by talking about something they’re interested in. They often appreciate your interest and the rest just happens.
That said, teenagers can be hard work too.
I am not sure if any of this helps. All the best.