Teenager. Part 1 (of 3).

After several years of working with adolescent students, I thought it would be a piece of cake when my kids finally crossed the threshold into the teen years.  I gotta say, I'm having growing pains.  No amount of professional experience can prepare you for life with your teenager.  It is completely different than working with kids on a daily basis, because they are walking, living, breathing, crying, raging, loving, emotional, crazy, laughing, cozy, sleeping-in pieces of you .

I'm feeling a little sorry for my oldest right now.  She's the guinea pig.  She's breaking us in.  By the time the third turns 13, we'll be too tired to fight.

We've had the "I don't know why I'm crying and I just can't stop" moments in the kitchen.  We've experienced the "how many times do we have to say goodnight to you and why are you still up it's 10:30 on a school night" days.  We've fought the "you should have a shower you're getting a little greasy and your gym strip stinks" afternoons.  And, we've begun the "can I just talk to you for a minute about something important" conversations.

My girl is lovely.  She is soft-hearted.  She is kind.  She is a beauty.

She is a puppy whose paws are just too big for her clumsy body ("don't knock over that... glass of milk!").  

She is innocent.  She is thoughtful.  She is responsible.  

She is self-centered, in a normal-kind-of way.  

Her room is a disaster.  

She is connected to her ipod.
Friends are becoming important than me.  

She sort of cares, but really doesn't mind if she's fashionable or not.  

Her blue eyes are mesmerizing.  

People say she looks like me (but I just don't see it).  

She is easily overwhelmed.  She mutters under her breath when she doesn't want to do something.  

She often clobbers her sisters.  

And, I love her to bits.  

I need to remind myself that she is a teenager.  I was one once.  I'm sure I was unpleasant to live with.  I remember having crying spells and temper tantrums.  I know this is just another stage.  

But, at the end of it, I want her to know that her momma loves her.  That our relationship is intact.  That she can come to me with problems or her latest "crush" and ask me questions when we're lying on my bed.

At least, I hope, that by the third girl, I may have learned a thing or two.
Love you, Annie.
mom

Ugh... it's over.

Yup. It's over. And, I've got myself an Olympic sized hangover. Not because of all the beer or anything fun like that, but because of the fun it was. And now, it's over. I have to upload some of our family photos to show you what we've been up to in the last few weeks. But, alas, the camera needs charging, the kids need lunches, and it just hasn't been on the forefront of my mind. I've had a lot of TV to watch-- after all, there were 14 gold medals for Canada! Terrific.

I will post a summary of our Olympic experience in the next week, but in summary, we went in to Vancouver all three Saturdays-- two with kids, one without. There were so many things to see and do that we didn't do anything the same any of the days we were there. That is, except for Mike... he spent the last two weeks volunteering as an Olympic driver. He spent a lot of time in the staff lounge watching events on TV and playing a lot of solitaire. I was left holding the fort. This has left me with a greater appreciation for parents who have to solo-parent. It is much easier to run a family with two chiefs.

As inspirational as the opening ceremony was, I was left with a ho-hum feeling after the closing ceremony. After the hockey game where the "right" team won, it was a bit of a downer. It felt a bit like a rock concert with athletes instead of back-up dancers. Really, people, balloon beavers? Floating moose? We are more than that. Buble in a red searge? C'mon. Very disappointing. So, in my mind, I'm going to think of the closing event of these games as the Sidney Crosby overtime goal. Awesome.

It's been quite a month. I'll post a few more details in the next few days.