I'm a day dreamer, always have been. I also am the mother of five. (no, that's not a typo.) I love my children dearly and enjoy all the fun and excitement they bring into my life. I especially love teenagers. (yep, teenagers.) I know they can be a handful and completely exhausting, but the creativity they bring is absolutely amazing.
I thoroughly LOVE the blue hair!
A recent one I heard, "Mom, I'm not going to make curfew, cause of traffic. There's an accident on the road, but I wanted to call you so you knew I was okay. Just so you know, I wasn't in it, but because of it, I'm going to be a little late."
Priceless. Just to know they're so caring and concerned for my worrying. (However, leaving out the fact that they just left five minutes ago and it takes ten to get home.)
See what I mean, creative. I know that teenagers aren't all perfect little angels, but I also know they aren't all delinquents and hell-raisers looking for trouble every time they head out the door.
I personally feel boredom is the key ingredient for trouble. I know for me, it was a major factor in my "teenage
Here's an example: I was fifteen years old and my brother and I decided to walk over to some local friends...at 12:30 am! Taking a shortcut through the dark and creepy elementary school grounds (during summer break) then continuing on to our friend's house.
I don't remember what we did or why we even went out, but once we got home, the window we'd crawled out of was closed and locked!
We tried all the other windows, the sliding back door, the side door, and even the front door. All completely locked!
Mom, had figured out what we'd been up to and being the woman she was, she decided to teach us a lesson. Whether it was 2 in the morning or not.
We were forced to knock on the front door (knowing full well, she was waiting for us on the other side) hoping she'd let us in. (BUSTED!)
At that time she didn't lecture us or read us the riot act, but simply said.
"Next time you decide to sneek out, let me know where you're going."
I think that shocked me more than anything. She was so calm about the entire thing.
That was the last time I snuck out, she'd taken all the fun out of it. Looking back on it as an adult, I think that was her point.
I'm not sure if that type of parenting would go over well, at least now days, but it worked really well for me.
My parents gave us (me and my 7 siblings) a lot of room for mistakes, but they also used guilt as a deadly weapon. Typically the guilt would eat at me more that the transgression and I'd end up never doing it again or breaking down and telling them what it was I'd done.
Now having 2 teenagers and three more to come, I'm not sure if giving them room for mistakes is a healthy option or ruling with an iron fist is better? Maybe it depends on the type of kid you have?
I have learned...one way parenting, doesn't fit all children. What works with one may not work for another and in order to survive the teen years sometimes changes must be made.
What do you think? Do you think parenting skills need to evolve for some kids more than others? Or should a standard be set and never changed?
