I am so looking forward to July and August, as the church I attend will be holding a class both months on the topic of teenagers. July will be about teenage boys and August will be about teenage girls. They plan on covering the mental, physical, spiritual, social and psychological development of teenagers.
I always believed that children should come with some sort of manual. Okay, maybe not really. However I do think that before a mother leaves the hospital she should be counseled in some way about what can be expected.
We give birth and a day later we are whisked out the door with a smile and a “good luck.” I don’t know about other mothers but I sure needed more than that. I have managed to make it through every season with my children with everyone still in tact. Okay, maybe I need to give more credit to my parenting than I do.
I feel like I did a pretty decent job. I have never been a perfect parent and I have made more than my share of mistakes. However in the end I can say that I feel pretty good about the job I have done.
However this new season of having teenagers is unlike anything I have ever experienced before. It is like a rollercoaster ride. You never know what to expect each day, let alone each moment. It can leave your head spinning and your stomach churning.
If there is one important thing that I have learned most in being a parent is that you have to be balanced. It isn’t easy and I am finding that as a parent of teenagers it is the biggest challenge I have.
You see the problem is that you have children who have one foot in childhood and another foot either teetering toward or on the other side of adulthood. One minute they want you to treat them like a grownup and the next minute they throw a tantrum like a toddler. Talk about confusing.
I don’t like roller coasters. I really don’t. When my family goes to an amusement park I usually watch them enjoy the roller coasters. I prefer to stand safely on the side. Once in a great while I will venture on one. To me there is nothing scarier than a roller coaster. However the one thing that I keep in the back of my mind, just as I am doing now as a parent of teenagers, is that the roller coaster ride does eventually end.
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