How does it happen? How do you take a perfectly normal and wonderful child and somehow over night have her turn into a mouthy, unappreciative, self centered spoiled brat! Did she get abducted by aliens who are secretly going to plot our destruction by replacing our wonderful little sweet hearts with ”Teenagers” so both their parents can go certifiably insane. It must be! Because this is not the sweet little girl I knew for 13 years and I didn’t remember being such a nightmare for my mother must be the teen year’s amnesia disorder.
A word of warning to all of you moms and dads with pre-teens. It’s seems like an over night transformation, one day your baking the Nestles and drinking hot chocolate sobbing over Charlottes Web (one more time) and the next morning your unpleasantly surprised with a wicked attitude, loud music, weird cloths and a fresh vocabulary to match. Reality is that for most of us this didn’t happen completely over night. Truth is in my case it was going on behind my back for a while. And I thought I had eyes behind my head!
I was certain I would be a better parent than my parents were and I had it all planned out. What I would do and what I wouldn’t do ect.. Up until the last few years I could point out every mistake my parents made on a moments noticed and somehow still feel justified and determined to be better then them and up until now thought that I had accomplished that. So far up until this year I really had few complaints. I knew that they were turning out to be just the wonderful little people I had hoped for. Not perfect, just balanced happy children. Now I find my self wondering if all those years of the perfectly planned mothering that I provided -the stories, movies, tickle contest you know those nights you wished for a hot bath but all 3 of them ended up with the stomach virus 3 night s in a row(what a mess) or your plans for a secret romantic night with hubby has gone down the tubes because one of them is having nightmares and the other can’t sleep alone and then oldest wakes up to see what going on and before you know it 5 am and there all passed out on your bed while your hanging on by at the bottom of the bed. I always thought that they knew how much sacrifice and love I put into everyday and that they would automatically be immune to the typical teen disease. Boy was I wrong!
One thing I have learned is that eventually they are just like you and me but in little bodies and with much less experience and thanks to my little alien I mean (sweet Teen) I have had my teen amnesia cured and am constantly given the pleasure of having a living re-enactment of most of my teenage tantrums right before my eyes. It’s like deja view but twisted! I know I have a few more years of mini nervous breakdowns to go.
And knowing me in a way I’ll be very sad to see her all grown up and on her own someday. Making mistakes and learning the lessons in life that we try to warn them about. Life is so weird. I was certain that there would be a moment in life when I felt all grown up and I would have learned everything about life. I’m still waiting…I guess that’s not how it works. I think I can say pretty confidently that we truly never stop growing and going through the stages of life and each one has it’s good moments and bad moments and that for most wisdom is hind sight because life is an experience not just a function if we don’t experience it we won’t function. I heard someone say once we should be born at 100 and die at 1 years old. Do you think we would live differently having the wisdom or knowledge of a 100 year old? Maybe. Maybe not. One thing I do know is that in our one way or another we never stop growing and learning in our lives for as long as we live and someday my children she can write about there children and I can sit back and smile and say. Been there done that. Have fun it’s worth it.
-----------------
http://www.InternetMoms.com
Women helping women work succefully from home. http://internetmoms.com/
| 
Browse by title articles:
