I remember it well. Being at my cousins’ house one summer when I was a kid and staying up until 2 a.m. for the
first time, then sleeping until at least 10 the next morning. Amazing! I felt so grown up. I was 9 or 10 and my cousins were both teens. It was an early taste of what would be a common occurrence
when I became a teen—sleeping late in the summer. Which is why I haven’t nagged (well, not …
Category: Raising Teenagers
Mom’s Best Friend
Animal therapy is a wondrous thing. Horse programs that assist kids and adults with physical and learning disabilities. Cats that help out in
nursing homes. Dogs that are trained to assist with an enormous amount of conditions, from blindness and deafness to Alzheimer’s Disease and peanut allergies—even those that dramatically change the
lives of hard-core criminals. I think another group that can be blessed by animal therapy is moms of pre-teens and …
Hour Showers No More: Helping Kids Break the Habit
Why are teens (and pre-teens) notorious for taking long showers? Is it because when they were
younger, they used to spend so much time with “bathtub crayons”, “foam soap” and “waterproof musical instruments”, that they’re simply used to “staying in”? Just when I thought my kids were the only ones who think water is limitless and free, I’ve discovered there are many more out there just like them.
One Surprise After Another
Allison, our teenager, a few days ago: “Mom, why are you always complaining about
something?”
Me: “It’s not that I’m always complaining, it’s that as a parent, there are problems and issues
constantly thrown my way, a lot of stuff I’ve never dealt with before, and I’m constantly having to make decisions and take a side— and you and Emmie don’t always agree with my opinion.”
Life-By-T-Shirt
I think a historian or sociologist of the future will be able to tell a lot about the teens in our current society simply by reading their T-shirts. Oh, I
don’t mean the ones with Will Ferrell’s picture that say “More Cowbell” or Jonas Brothers shirts or even the revamped “Have A Nice Day” tie-dyed ones, although those would definitely
add to the picture– I mean the ones that tell what the kids are doing all the time, at any minute. Seriously, …
Maybe We Should Just Buy A Rooster…
Jim Fay, co-author of Parenting With Love and Logic (one of my favorite parenting books) often says “You can’t make a kid go to sleep, but you can wake him up, so stop trying to control what you can’t and concentrate on what you can.” In other words, let kids stay up as long as they want, but feel free to bang pots and pans and play musical instruments outside their door early in the morning. His experience has been that kids will naturally regulate themselves on their bedtime and eventually go to sleep at a decent time once they see how tired they are from “staying up”. Something tells me this advice was meant for younger kids and not teens. At least, not my teen.
Whose Room Is It, Anyway?
Amid all the news hysteria yesterday about the runaway balloon over Denver and the possible 6-year-old pilot on board, another news story about another Colorado family quietly got my attention: the mother of one of the Columbine High School shooters has broken her 10-year silence. In an essay for O magazine (naturally), Susan Klebold reveals the constant guilt she’s felt over the years, the many letters she’s written to victims’ families, the shock over finding out her son had been suicidal and wasn’t necessarily looking forward to prom like she’d thought. “We didn’t know that he and Eric had assembled an arsenal of explosives and guns,” Susan Klebold wrote. My heart goes out to her and any parent who has lost a child. Her experience and those of others whose children have led a secret life are a wakeup call to parents on many issues, one being “privacy and kids”. The idea that a kid’s room is his “private sanctity” is heinous.
Two Simple Words That Mean So Much
Isn’t it great when kids show appreciation? Like the girl in my Scout troop who always gives me cocoa at Christmas and writes a thank you note. Or the boy in Emmie’s class who gave me a hug when I showed up to volunteer one day. Or Emmie, yesterday afternoon — I had promised to take her to get a new gymnastics leotard, and even though she had to clean her room and pay for half, she said, “Thanks, Mom!” as we walked to the car, new leotard in hand.
“Thank you for being appreciative,” I said.
When teens show appreciation, …
Life-Changing Moments
Did anyone see the million dollar hole-in-one golf video going around on the Internet last week? Jason Hargett, a restaurant manager from Provo, Utah, decided to enter a charity golf tournament in spite of a hurt wrist, using his brother’s clubs. As in many charity tournaments, each hole is sponsored by a business or organization and often there are prizes for that rare possibility of a hole-in-one. This video shows the shot and his reaction after he makes it. It’s fun to watch because you can just feel the joy leaping out of your computer screen. …
Bumming About Homecoming
Are things as over-the-top at other high schools as they are in North Texas? Please let me know. It might make me feel better. Then again, it might make me feel worse, knowing that insanity is so widespread.