I have teenagers!

Must be miracle go

I do not have a clue, but it's been a wonderful trek for the most part.

 

Good grief! How DID that happen. I thought your youngest was the same age as mine: 11. And Jenna's not quite there. She has to wait until Feb. 13.

I do feel your pain though. Cass is 16, driving and has a ring on her left hand.

Chris and Cade (might as well include him, he's here all the time) are 14 and into target shooting, karate and just waiting until next year when they can get their driving permits!

And Jenna? Well she might not be a teenager, but she has those mood swings you were talking about! On top of that she is almost as tall as her brothers and sister. I cannot believe how tall she has gotten!

One thing that helps is that I keep telling myself that I'm only 44 and that's NOT old in spite of what the kids think! :laugh:

 

Hold on tight Gina................these years are now going to fly by. At least they have been for me. My husband and I just gave our oldest daughter away this summer in marriage and now she is starting her own life. Our youngest daughter is a Junior in high school and we are getting things set for college. It seems like you blink and the years go by. Cheerish every moment with your girls (I know you do). And trust me some days are not going to be easy, there were days with my two when I thought who has stollen my kids and replaced them with these alliens? I believe that when your kids reach their teenage years, now is when they need you most. Communication is soooo important, yet can be very difficult sometimes, but always remain interested in them and their situations! Being a teenager can be the greatest time for them or the worst time for them, and I believe it all matters how we help them through it.

Your an excellent mother Gina, and always remember your not alone in this..............daily commit your girls to the Lord, and seek His help and guidance for them. When things got tough for me, I would seek the Lord and say..........." Lord they are yours before they were ever mine, please show me what to do, for you are all knowing and know what is best for their lives" He will help you! Get ready for some really exciting times in their lives, and trust me, it will bring back memories about your own teenage years. I tried to never forget what it was like being a teenager.

I love my girls dearly and will always treasure my time spent with them. And I thank the Lord for giving them to me, that He trusted me enough to raise them...........I truly have been blessed!

I'm praying for you and your girls.

 

I will have a teen this summer and the others will quickly follow. I will have 4 teens all at the same time, with the baby about 11 or so by then.

 

Let me tell you get ready. While I don't have any kids of my own (yet), I still remember how I was when I was a teenager.

My mother told me, "I hope you have kids that are just like you". When I think about that, its a scary thought. I was quite the smart-alec during my days as a teenager.

I also remember when I graduated from getting whippings to getting grounded. When I was 13, I smarted off to my mother. She told me to bend over the couch arm. I knew she couldn't hit hard. I supposed to get 5 licks. Instead I ended up getting about 25.

Everytime she struck me with the belt, I sarcastically said, "Oww Mom. You're really hurting me." I even sarcastically pretended to be in pain. Everytime I said something, she kept swinging the belt harder & faster. The bad part was I almost made her laugh, which made her more angry beacuse she was trying to be serious. After getting hit so many times she threw the belt down, out of breath, & said "I'm hitting you as hard as I can."

We joke about it today. It wasn't funny back then.

 

I have reared 2 teenagers. My son just turned 20.

I find that each stage of life that they have been trough puts me into a different stages of relationship with them. From birth to 1 year it was largely a nourishing relationship. Then the 2's and three's began the disciplinarian relationship. As five through 10 passed the years of early schooling, I had to be Nurturer, Disciplinarian, Teacher and Mentor.

Eleven, twelve and thirteen I had to establish the role of hero. Fatherhood must be defined, in early puberty, as heroic. My love for their mother should be at it's strongest, because it is at this stage that they start looking into the realm of emotional love (puppy love as it was defined by my heroic dad). You know, the period of crushes. It is this period that they are the most vulnerable. Many divorces are taking place at this time and the children are the most hurt. Their dad (hero) becomes week and the heroic image they have of him is forever tarnished. They get so mixed up as they are dealing with their own mixed feelings with no center to focus upon if there is no father to be strong when they are week.

The teenage years brings to focus all stages of their development. It pays to be sharp in all the areas that you have learned throughout all stages. However there is this aspect that they show in these years that is most confounding. At one instance they show brilliant adult traits that will make you proud to be their parent and then on an instant they are stumbling all over themselves like a two year old. Only that their stumbling is not over steps but more hurtful things like relationships. Relationships with you (the parent), their own siblings, teachers, preachers and peers are the hardest falls they will ever make. It is the stage of Counselor that will be your highest calling.

Best of wishes to you as you will have to be at the top of your learning as a parent. It is not a job for the timid or squeamish. If you are one of those types and most of us, if not all, are. Then do as I did and lean on the Lord. Meanwhile you also have my prayers.

Mel

 

I never thought of bodily harming my daughter until she was 15. Then I felt bad that I had unleashed her on the world. She'll be 17 soon, and I'm starting to consider allowing her to live to see it........

 

Gina, I have experienced the teenage children, and I didn't know them as teenagers. They become somebody else overnight when they reach puberty. Now that my "children" are 35 and 38, I'm amazed that they keep getting older when I'm only 39! :laugh:

 

Groceries!

We only have two teenagers right now. The other two have graduated to their 20's.

 

Laughing at Curtis :tongue3:

I sooooo wish I didn't understand . . .

 

don't know... I have two in college now and one is a Junior in HS.

There's a whole new set of issues with them. But they are great kids.

FA

 

Our tribe is past their teen years now - three of them spaced 18-20 months apart. madre was heard saying once, "I now understand why guppies eat their young."

There is a phrase used quite often in the Bible - 456 times in the KJV -

"And it came to pass..."

Those teen years will pass and before you know it you'll stand on the other side of it wondering where the years went.

 

I've heard so many parents exclaim, "If I can just survive my kid's teenage years." And I shudder when I hear that. I totally disagree. Instead, I think, "What a great time to be a parent!"

For sure, the questions are more difficult. And more challenging. No more are you their hero. They began to see you for who you are -- with all of your faults (and even some more that you don't have). But what a great time to deepen your relationship with them and encourage them with their walk with the Lord.

We've always let our teens (now 16 and 18) know that our love (like God's) is always unconditional. (It's simply amazing how many kids out there have parents who provide conditiional love based on their achievements.) We love them because they are, not what they do. Therefore, we let them know that we are for them always, never against them -- though sometimes it may seem like our decisions are against them. This, to us, has been #1 -- our teens never ever worry about being loved.

I don't know who said this, but I believe it is true -- "Rules without relationship results in rebellion." Hopefully you have a great relationship with your new teen and this will continue to grow and deepen in the years ahead.

And don't blink.

 

My oldest is 12 and will become a teenager this year. Y'all aren't giving me much hope, here. . .