Raising A Teenage Girl Is One Of The Hardest Things I Have Ever Done
Teenagers? Are you even kidding me? I was in no way prepared for what it takes to be the mom of a teenager, and I had 13 years to prep for this.
Side Note: My teenager walked in while I was reading this and said, “WHAT DID I DO?” Oh, kid… you don’t even know…
It all starts out sort of innocent with puberty and sleepovers, and then before you know it, it launches into wanting to go to the mall with friends unsupervised, hang out with boys at the pool, and also decide what the heck they want to do with the rest of their lives.
I mean, are you kidding me with all of this?
The worst part is, there’s no set age to know when it’s okay for your kid to go and do things. Oh, and you might not be the one deciding.
Kissing boys? When is that okay? I have no idea.
I mean teenagers are going to kiss. That’s a thing that is going to happen, and we don’t really have any say over it. But when should it happen?
When can they go to things like football games and the mall unsupervised? When is it okay to leave them at home alone?
How am I supposed to know the answers to this stuff, it doesn’t magically just appear in my brain.
Even though I was really hoping for that.
And what is right for one kid might be completely wrong for another. All these kids mature at different times. Sure we can let their maturity guide us to some extent, but if it were left up to me, I’d probably keep mine under lock and key until she was 30 or so.
And that can’t be right.
You just have to trust. Trust that you raised a good kid with good morals and good sense.
Trust that you knew what you knew what you were doing along the way, and trust in your kid.
That all sounds good in theory, but in practice? I really just want to follow her around the mall like a creepy sneaky stalker person and just make sure she’s safe at all times.
She would be okay with that, wouldn’t she?
(Side note: The teen read this post over my shoulder, and just let me know that, “No, no she would not be okay with me following her around like a creepy stalker person.” So I guess it’s back to the drawing board.)
