Over Exposure
When I was a teen (yes way back in the day…) I used to keep a diary. It was just a
simple notebook filled with thoughts, dreams and the rantings of a 14 year old. I also kept interesting drawings, cartoons, and other notes my friends contributed on the subjects of the day. It was a private book, one that was kept hidden under the protection of my mattress. It was never meant for public view and I would have been mortified if even my friends had seen the inner workings of my feelings.
Now however, everything has changed. Teens live their lives in the light, out loud and completely in public. Nothing is kept hidden. This generation sees no issue with voicing their opinions via Facebook or Myspace.Their diaries are now blogs, posted on the Internet for all to see and comment on. YouTube has created a new kind of sanctuary, not only for videos of laughing babies and yawning kittens, but for teens to post visual diaries of their inner most secrets. There are video confessions about emotional secrets, how to videos about self harm, and sexuality issues of all types. There is even a website where teens can post their deepest secrets anonymously as a public outlet for their private pain. But I worry, can all this exposure really be good?
By allowing the public so deeply into their private lives are our teens prepared for the comments and criticism they will receive? Do they have the coping skills needed to handle the barrage of opinion that they have invited into their lives? It is hard enough figuring out who you are and what you are about without sorting through all the thoughts and feelings from others about what you “should” be. I think as parents we have to be cautious and aware of what are teens are sharing of themselves with others in these very public formats.
I appreciate this generations willingness to live their lives in such an open way. And I want them to recognize that it also makes them vulnerable to the attacks of others. Preparing them emotionally and teaching them resilience can go a long way in dealing with their electronic lives. And there will be times, although it won’t be popular, that we, as parents have to hold a line about what our teens share and make available to others. So know what your teen is doing. Talk to them about what you see posted on their pages and blogs. Support their creativity and help them make good decisions about living their lives in the open.
The Breakfast Club 2010
My teens high school just finished their fall play. This year they did a modified version of John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club. Despite taking out some of the things that aren’t appropriate for a PG audience, it’s amazing how well it has held up. Teens and the issues they face haven’t changed much in the past 26 years. Peer pressure, acceptance, parents, divorce, and finding your way in world are issues at the core of adolescence.
What has changed is the speed of which much of this happens. Groups and alliances are not only formed in school but on Facebook and Myspace. Bullying and alienation isn’t just confined to the schools boundaries, but now can bombard teens with text messages, video posts, and instant messages designed to humiliate and degrade.
One thing that the Breakfast Club points out is that with some time and conversation, teens can learn that they have more commonalities than differences. I think the problem is in creating those opportunities to talk, listen, and truly understand one another. Schools are forced to cut back to basics due to stressful budgets and lack of funds. Programs that allow teens to really see each other as equals are few and far between. I believe that it is up to us, as a community of parents, to take the lead in allowing teens to really talk about their experiences. It is also important for those of us who are professionals, to get involved in our schools, volunteer and help overwhelmed educators to meet the social and emotional needs of the students they serve.
So it is up to us to remember what it was like to be an adolescent and help our teens break down the walls between the Brain, the Athelete, the Princess, the Basketcase and the Criminal…any questions?
What Cutting Isn’t…
Disney actress and singer Demi Lovato is all over the news this week. She made the decision to leave the Jonas Brothers tour to seek treatment for cutting, bringing this often disturbing behavior back into the spotlight. It is hard to comprehend how such a beautiful, accomplished, and talented girl could be harming herself in such a way. She has the world by the tail, or so it seems. But the amount of pressure that is on these young stars, as well as teens in general, is often unbearable. This generations of teens seem to lack the fundamental coping skills necessary to handle disappointment, loss, and grief. So they resort to behavior that helps them deal with their pain in a tangible way. I am not condoning this behavior, I just understand it…
Rather than talking about what cutting is, I can tell you what cutting isn’t….
1) It isn’t suicidal…If they really wanted to die, they would find a way. Cutting is not designed to be a suicidal act, it is a coping skill used to make their emotional pain stop. I know that sounds counterproductive since they are causing physical injury, but a cut on the outside hurts less than the emotional pain on the inside.
2) It isn’t manipulative…many people believe that teens use this behavior to manipulate others. Although it some times appears that way, it is not the intent. The only real goal is to feel better.
3) It isn’t showing off for their friends…although some may have started that way, most teens go to great lengths to hide their self injurious behavior. They will wear long sleeves in the summer, cut themselves where it is not likely to be noticed, and don’t even show their friends.
I have worked with many adolescent cutters over the years and I know how scary this behavior can be for both the teen and their parents. What teens fear most is if they tell their parents, they will “freak out” and yell at them for what they are doing. As a parent, I understand that reaction completely. But if parents want to help their teens, they have to be more willing to listen than to scold. And they have to understand that this behavior has a function.
So instead of asking, “Why did you do this???” (and the best answer you will get is…”I don’t know..”) ask “What does this do for you?” or “how does this help you?” These type of questions will lead to a dialogue that will open your teen up vs. shutting them down, and allow you to have the information you need to get them help.
I wish Ms. Lovato the best of luck. I am proud that she had the courage needed to step away from this big tour and the money it represents. I also applaud her parents for their willingness to get their daughter the help she needs. Recovery is possible.
Let me know what you think! Leave a comment at the bottom of this post or by clicking on the balloon post-it note at the top right corner! Thanks!
Update
Sorry I’ve been away for awhile…life with teens has been moving at break neck speed! I have several ideas in the works, especially around the areas of cyber-bullying. If there is a topic you’d like to see on Translating Today’s Teens, leave a comment here or drop me a line at terry@translatingteens.com! Thanks for hanging in there with me!
Terry
Instant Karma
We were watching the morning news and there was a report of about a guy running away from the police after a robbery. He shot at them and the bullet bounced back and hit him in the leg! Kate says, “Wow, that is like Karma sending an instant text message!” Now that is Instant Karma!
Sound Effects
When my kids were newborns, one of the best pieces of advice came from my mom. She warned me, “Babies will make the weirdest sounds! They can squeak, moan, and whistle. It can sound like anything from a creaking floor to a high pitched sound of a tea kettle so don’t panic…its normal!” Thank God she told me that because I never knew such tiny babies could make the barrage of sounds they produced. Becoming familiar with these sounds and what they meant helped me respond to my kids when they were infants and bond with them by meeting their needs. The same seems to hold true again, now that they are teenagers. So, a great deal that goes into translating teens is learning the language of sound. 
The sounds teens make have a language all their own. These clicks, wheezes, sighs and huffs all have a distinct meaning and function (and it’s not just to tic us off even though it may feel like it!) I really believe that, just like when they were babies, they often don’t have the words that most accurately describes what they are feeling. So sounds are used as words in various ways as a type of short hand, or as a way to punctuate a point.
For example…Kate and I were discussing how pick up from school was going to work for the next day. When I asked her if she had heard what I said, she made this loud “CLICK” sound. During another conversation, she did it again. It took a few times to realize the translation of the “CLICK” was, “I heard you and I got it…I have nothing to add!” (The context of these sounds is slightly different from teen-to-parent vs. teen-to-teen. Teen-to-teen translations is usually used to break awkward silences or brush something off: Kate.) Thanks Kate…So, twelve words were reduced to a small sound that got the point across. These sounds are sometimes accompanied by hand signals (like a thumbs up) to further illustrate the point.
Just like a baby has different types of cries and we have to figure out which ones mean hungry, tired, lonely, or wet, teens have different nonverbal cues that give us the same information. Now some would argue that teens shouldn’t have to rely on this type of communication and as parents, we need to demand that they communicate properly. I would agree to some extent. But what we have to remember is that we are dealing with a child with a rapidly developing brain and this type of process has a function.
Research tells us that child’s brain goes through a kind of “growth spurt” in adolescence. It is producing millions of new neural connections and laying the ground work for higher forms of reasoning, processing, and empathy. With all this going on inside them (and add hormones on top of that…) is it any wonder that teens tend to revert back to a simpler form of communication? When parents demand that teens communicate only in a way that suits us, it often leads to frustration, angry outbursts and misunderstandings for everyone. They may not have the words to adequately express what they are thinking and feeling. It is at these times of high stress or intense emotions that words fail them and they revert to the language of cave men. “Mom, it was like, aaggghh, and then (sigh) I felt all, grrrrrhhhh, you know?”
So the next time you teen’s language is punctuated with squeaks, clicks, and sighs, instead of making them stop, ask them for a translation. The more understood they feel, the less they will need to snap, crackle and pop!
Let me know what you think! Leave a comment at the bottom of this post or by clicking on the balloon post-it note at the top right corner! Thanks!
Brave New World!
Well, freshman year has began officially here in this part of the country. Technology is going to be play a much bigger part in this school year than ever before. Schools, in the never ending effort to save money due to merciless budget cuts, are using the Internet as a way to “go green” and cut down on the cost of supplies. Now, assignments, presentations, and syllabus (or is it syllabi…I can never remember…) are posted on teacher’s websites rather than printed as handouts to save paper. Students can sign up for “text alerts” regarding due dates on projects and homework. One requirement for all classes is each student must have their own flash drive in order to download information from school to home. By using the technology our teens are already familiar with, teachers are hoping to help them be more organized and assignments are always available. This now alleviates the ”dog ate my homework” excuse from our modern society. Paper tends to get lost in our household so easily that being able to pull things up online and print them as needed feels like a God-send to me.
As parents, we are going to have to take the time to learn this new system. Our school has a site called “Parent Experience” where you can log in and see your teens grades for every class at a glance. No more waiting for report cards to know where things stand. For those with well meaning but procrastinating students (like mine) I am looking forward to using this new format to help keep on top of the girls’ progress. 
One thing all of this technology does in a real sense is make us more involved in the process. Yes there will be a new learning curve to understanding all the ins and outs of how this works. But we can really use this to our advantage. We can be aware of what our teens are learning and working on, when things are due and what are their teachers’ expectations. In our busy lives, I see it as one stop shopping…a more efficient way to keep up. This also takes away the option of our teens saying “I didn’t know that was due!” We will know and can be more proactive in keeping them accountable. We can also email teachers with questions or comments when our work lives doesn’t always accommodate time for a phone call or a face to face conference.
The only problem I see in all this is for the families that do not have Internet access and computers at home. I hope that school will take that into account and understand that there may be kids that fall through the cracks as we transition into this new technological way of operating. But all in all, it truly is a brave new world!
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Phase of the day….I hate you!
Today’s phrase is “I hate you!” 
I feel qualified to comment on this one since I hear it a lot around my house. It is mostly said in jest, although sometimes it comes flying out for real. Most of the time this phrase is thrown out by a teen when you are making them do something they don’t want to do….like do a chore, or go to bed, or turn off the tv when their favorite program is on because their homework isn’t done.
This phrase has particular power since the last thing we want to hear (or believe) is that are children really do hate us. It strikes us at the core of our heart, and, if the relationship is shaky, may make us think twice about imposing whatever restriction we had planned (thus the point!)…
We have to love our kids, especially are teens, enough to let them hate us once in awhile. Do they really hate us??? Of course not. It’s not personal even though it feels that way. They hate us being parental which is our jobs right now. So hang in there, be consistent, and if they hate us in the moment, love them anyway. They will love you again when they need to go to the mall!
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Pecked to death by a chicken…
Recently, my friend Teresa from high school reminded me, “some days raising teens is like being pecked to death by a chicken!” Sometimes there is just an endless barrage of questions, over and over, that never seem to end. Most of the time, teen are focused on their own stuff and want very little to do with us. But it never fails that when we are exhausted, stressed, trying to have an important conversation with our partner or make an urgent phone call, it starts. And God help those of us that have more than one teen in the house. It is like an episode of WWE, they tag team each other and we can’t catch are breath. It feels like being mowed down by a machine gun.
And if the constant questioning wasn’t enough, now we are pummelled by text messages at the speed of light. If we don’t respond in kind (usually because we are driving or just slower on the keyboard) they keep sending more! Mom, mom, mom, buzz, buzz, buzz, peck, peck, peck…
And now with technology, they now have the ability to peck us whether we are in the same room or not. I love when they send me text messages when we are under the same roof because they don’t want to get up and bug me in person! So I completely understand the catatonic state poor Lois finds herself in….some days it just never ends!
New word of the day…
Whatever! Typically used as a off handed response to parental imposed consequences. It is meant to mislead the parent into thinking that the teen does not care about the consequence (or what you have to say). However, it is more likely a defense mechanism to not show that they are hurt, embarrassed, or even remorseful and want you to think they are completely unaffected by the issue at hand. It is a sign of resignation, that they have given up the fight, for now. Teens need to “save face” when there is conflict and this phrase is an attempt to do that.
Style Points
No matter how much we hate to admit it, our style is not our kids style. Before you go out and buy lunch coolers, back packs, notebooks or other gear for school, please take heed….DON’T! You will spend a lot of money on things that your teen or preteen will turn their nose up at and refuse to use no matter how nice the item is or how much you spent. You will feel angry, believing that your teen is just being stubborn and ungrateful…..Not a good way to start the school year.
My advice to avoid all of this…Wait. School supplies and sales will be going on awhile so there is no need to rush right out to get everything now. Let your teen (especially new middle schoolers and freshman) go to school for a few days and check out the landscape. Let them get a sense of what is “cool” at their school. Their goal is going to be to fit in and getting gear that matches the culture of the school will go a long way to giving them a sense of security. They feel awkward enough learning the new ins and outs of school, it will not be fun for them if their “Hello Kitty” backpack makes them a laughing stock and the butt of jokes that will be hard to live down. 
So ease into this new school year. Your teens don’t need all the latest trends, but understanding that every generation decides what’s “cool” goes a long way to build trust with your teen. If they know you get it, they will feel more comfortable coming to you with the bigger things. And there will be plenty of those as the years go on!
Word of the day…
The word for the day is “Flame!” To use in a sentence, “they flamed my facebook page!”
Flame is a verb (to flame). It means to put inflamitory remarks or rants on one’s facebook, twitter, or other electronic profile. It is meant to be mean and hurtful. A parent equivalent is to “burn someone.”
A question of sleep….
I have always been impressed with those individuals who can be up when the birds start signing, have the exercise and breakfast completed by 7 am and start their day with a smile. We are not one of those people. Our family operates on a completely different clock. We are the perpetual night owls, whose brains start to think straight and get creative at 9pm. We can be the most functional and productive late into the evening or even the wee hours of the morning. And thus causes the impending problem.
The girls start High School in three weeks. School starts promptly at 7:30 am. Let me say that again slowly….
S E V E N T H I R I T Y A M !!!!!
Now one of the interesting facts about adolescents is that their Circadian rhythms (the internal biological clock that regulates sleep) shifts into the later hours of the evening. Teens are prone to staying up late and sleeping later into the morning. They seem to function better on that schedule. However, their school schedule does not permit this type of cycle. School starts an hour earlier than Middle School and gets out at 2:30pm. Not only is this schedule hard on a teen’s biological clocks, but parents work schedules as well. That leaves approximately 3 hours of alone time for the teen whose parents work to at least 5pm (with a half hour to get home.)
So I wonder if schools would be willing to look at this issue from both sides of the coin. If there was a later start time, say 10am, teens would be more alert and focused to learn. Could this improve outcomes and test scores? Maybe! This would also allow students to be dismissed later allowing less latch key time for them to get into trouble since parents would likely be home around the same time. Could this decrease the likelihood of drug and alcohol use in our teens or even teen pregnancy rates? Who knows? There are several studies out that believe just that as well as this type of schedule does not work well with how adolescents function.
All I know is that come August 9th, I am not looking forward to trying to get two 14 year olds out of bed at 6:30 am to start school. It will not be pretty at my house. Please pray for me!
That’s crap!
Today’s phrase: “That’s crap!”
Used typically when something is being discussed that the teen in question does not agree with or is appalled by…It is usually expressed loudly and in a tone full of righteous indignation. This may induce significant parental embarrassment depending on who is within earshot when the above mention phrase is uttered.
For parents, this phrase would be taken quite literally and as a warning to watch where you step!
In today’s teen language “that’s crap!” means “that is SO wrong”, “that’s messed up” or “that’s not right!” Real crap has nothing to do with it!
Example: Kate and I are in the grocery store with my mom who happens to point out a Twilight candy bar with a picture of Robert Pattinson on the wrapper. “Look Kate, there’s Edward!” to which Kate replied loudly, “That’s crap!” Guess she didn’t think it was necessary to have vampires sell chocolate! PS…my apologies to any Twilight fans but now, that I think of it, New Moon was crap! Let’s hope Eclipse is better!
I text therefore, I am..
I am starting to truly understand how my grandmother felt when I was a teen. She often marvelled at the latest new gadget or device that came out in stores. Being born in 1911, she came into a world with no cars, no television, no commercial air travel and no indoor plumbing. It seems incomprehensible that this was her life was just two short generations from the present.
I often sound like my grandma when I try to explain to the girls that “when I was a kid…we didn’t have x, y, or z.” And although we didn’t ride a dinosaur to school up hill both ways, what we did have compared to now seems equivalent of living in the technological dark ages.
My 14 year old daughter Hannah was stunned and appalled recently to learn that cell phones did not exist when I was a teen. She stared in horror when I told her that the phone was attached to the wall and freedom of movement was restricted by a six foot curly cord that wrapped itself in knots the second the phone was returned to its cradle! We had to be home to get a call, and if you missed it, no answering machine was there with the familiar greeting, “at the sound of the beep you know what to do……” 
“Mom, how did you survive it? That sounds so AWFUL!!!”
I had to laugh…we didn’t think it was awful (except maybe when someone was on the party line and no one could get through). It was our reality. But when we look back on those times, it is easy to see how the explosion of technology our children take for granted is so mind boggling for us! And yet, like my grandmother, we have adjusted and adapted. We send texts and emails, maybe not at the speed of light as they do, but we can manage for the most part. I do know what OMG and LOL mean (although honestly, not much else!) We love our cable TV and being able to know what is going on around the world in a blink of an eye.
But maybe it is good that we sit down with our teens and explain the “good ole days” to them once in a while so they can comprehend how far we have come so fast. They will laugh at us, be shocked and amazed that we lived in a time of such darkness, but maybe they will also see us in a new light! We can evolve! I text therefore I am!
“Stop YELLING at me!”
I thought it would be fun to explore some common phrases today’s teens use and attempt to translate their true meaning for us confused parents.
Today’s Phrase is: “Stop yelling at me!”
I come from a family of yellers. My dad’s parents were from what is now the Czech Republic and would yell at each other in a foreign language on a regular basis. Once I ask my grandma why she and Pops yelled at each other so much, to which she replied, “we don’t yell at each other!” Despite the tone and volume, she never considered that they were “yelling” they were just “discussing.” Consequently the other side of my family were no slouches in the yelling department. Those grandparents were Irish and German and yelling was also considered appropriate and normal. We were the Loud Family from SNL!
Our kids have certainly been exposed to less yelling and screaming then we had to endure as kids. I think our generation has made (at least from the discussions I have had with other parents) a concerted effort to turn the knob down from 11 to something a bit more reasonable.
Yet despite our best efforts toward change, our kids still accuse us of yelling! It doesn’t compute to us! We know what REAL yelling sounds like! We had great teachers! Even our TV shows had way more yelling (remember All in the Family? Normal dinner conversation was Meat Head and Archie screaming insults at each other at a volume you could hear from space..) So when this accusation occurs,my brain always reverts to an internal commentary of “you think I’m YELLING???? I’ll show you YELLING! ….THIS IS YELLING!!!! 
Our teens have figured out one truth about us that we really don’t want to admit. They know that what we fear most is turning into our parents and grandparents. And they also know that if they accuse of doing something we are not doing, it makes us stop in our tracks! And that is the goal.
So “Stop yelling at me” really means “I really don’t want to listen to what you have to say, and if I make this about your parenting, you will stop having the discussion I don’t want to have, go away and leave me alone…” It is a phrase that can turn an ordinary discussion into a full blown power struggle and the yelling commences.
So we have to recognize is what all this is about… just having a discussing about anything can be uncomfortable to them. They don’t like confrontation and assume they are in trouble whenever we want to “talk” so they work to put us on the defensive. We can’t get sidetracked by a knee jerk reaction that will have us doing what we set out not to do (yelling!). We can validate for our teens that it is hard to talk about some things and find a way for everyone to feel as safe and heard in the process. Then no one has to yell!
Late night obsessions
Kate and I are up late discussing obsessions or more specifically teen obsessive behavior. Research tells us that the teenage brain is prone to more intrusive thoughts since it is still growing at an astounding rate during adolescence. They are more obsessive thoughts and they have less ability to filter those thoughts then adults. Kate is a prime example of this process.
I marvel at her ability to get completely and totally absorbed into a particular subject. Not only does she then learn everything about that topic, she understands their variation, themes, then explains them to us in never-ending detail. And then…she can change the subject matter in the blink of an eye. Just when I have gotten used to every detail of Phantom of the Opera, hearing the music blast through the house while the movie is both on the TV and YouTube, she shift gears entirely and I am expected to follow instantly. If I don’t keep up, her frustration level sky rockets and then I am accused of “not paying attention” (which we will cover in another post soon!) So tonight….Kate is going to impart her wisdom on the subject since she can’t be the only teen who gets obsessive about things!
HI! Kate here…. OK first the dictionary definition of obsession- the domination of one’s thoughts or feelings by a persistent thought, image, idea or desire.
So, as most parents have jobs that occupy their time during the day, we have school. However, when parents get home they still have many more things to do; run kids to practices, make dinner, finish work projects, etc. Besides homework- we have nothing else to occupy ourselves. So we turn to common media- TV, computer, cell phones, iPods, the simple stuff (lol XD). And with advertising and reruns and so many different things swirling around us all at once, we tend to find one thing that draws our attention most and latch on to it. Then, like any other addict, we refuse to let it go.
Though it varies from person to person, I guess there is a sort of security in knowing something so well, and knowing that no matter how many times I watch Lord of the Rings, evil will be defeated and I will cry at the ending.
Certain songs may be comforting to specific people because of the lyrics, while others may have a favorite celebrity because it is someone they relate to or aspire to be like.
So, per Kate’s explanation, obsessive behavior creates a sense of safety, comfort, and predictability in a very unpredictable world! So their obsessiveness has a function and a purpose. Knowing this, we can maybe understand this process in a different light and use it as a cue that our adolescents are feeling uncertain or insecure. It almost has the same function as a teddy bear or blanket, but it is harder to see it that way since the behavior is so annoying.
We often forget what it was like when we were teens obsessed with the latest movie star or rock band that completely occupied our every waking thought and wall space in our rooms. Like everything with teens, what is on the surface is just the tip of the iceberg, and we have to look more closely at everything they do if we want to nurture a deeper relationship between us and them. So the more we can enter their world, the more we can see life through their eyes! And the view from there is amazing!
Survivor: Middle School
The Tribe…
I haven’t kept up on all 20 seasons of Survivor, but did watch the finale the other night. It was interesting after not having seen it for awhile how much psychological gamesmanship goes into the process. And despite all of Russell’s scheming to put himself into perfect position to cash in, he still didn’t win…
What does this have to do with teens, you may be asking? Well the girls had their 8th grade graduation ceremony this week. Middle school has been a long three years. The change in them is clearly visible and yet, it is hard for them to see how far they have come.
It has been three years of games, both big and small. It has included challenges to numerous to mention. And I realized what these kids have gone through in Middle school (6th through 8th grade) is similar to what we had to deal with in High School! The subdivisions of kids, the geeks, the nerds, the brains, the jocks, the emo’s have formed more distinct lines of demarcation so much earlier now then when we were in school (I remember us still playing jump rope in sixth grade!)
So many days, the girls came home in tears. People they thought were their friends ripped them apart behind their back and the betrayal was something they were not prepared to handle (but then are we ever?) Alliances changed on a dime. People jumped teams to join in with whomever they thought could get them something.
Kate and Hannah worked hard to maintain some type of integrity in all this. They clung to friends they knew they could trust but even then, those relationships were tested. We had to change schools between 7th and 8th grade, leaving behind a familiar environment to one where relationships had already been established for two years. They begged to be home schooled and the first few months of 8th grade were hell. Not giving in to their distress during those moments were so hard for me. I wanted them to be happy and have a good experience. And in the end, they did….they got past it and made new friends. And they also learned that the mean people usually never win and get what they deserve in the end.
And while I was watching them walk to the front of the gym to receive their promotion certificate, I realized that they had survived and thrived. It was Survivor: Middle School and they won…
So I think if Jeff Probst is looking for a new challenge for the next installment of this ever ending TV show, I think they should make the participants spend two months in middle school. They will have to eat school lunches as their only form of nourishment. They will have to do mountains of homework daily while participating in sports, piano lessons, after school karate, and the school play. They will have to merge tribes with different types of kids and complete challenging school projects and master technology for presentations. They must be able to send two hundred texts a day with a non keyboard phone. And they must have their heart broken at least once and still “stay friends.”
So on second thought, I really don’t think their would be any takers….you could not make me go through all that again for a million bucks!
Hello world!
Today is the birth of my blog! I am really excited about this new way to communicate and reach out to others! I believe this will be a fascinating journey of exploration into the subject I am truly passionate about…our relationships with our teens!
I want to thank Kate and Hannah for the inspiration, support, and help with this project…I feel blessed to have you in my life and I am honored to be your mom… Thanks also to my husband, Julius for his unwavering support any time I embark on something new…
And thanks to those of you that take time to check in to see what’s in store…I look forward to your feedback, insights, and contributions!
And so the journey begins….
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