Teenagers

Teenagers are just trying to get out the start gate of life and go as fast as they can regardless of the bumps, I actually don't think they can see them until they get there.

Had a thing with our number one and only son, I think he thinks mums may be good for lots of things but not any good when it comes to school work. I am the one he always comes to to ask to do stuff as I am the boss, even if my partner in crime and life is standing right there. But the school work stuff is completely different, I think I will have to go against my nature and let it go, let others help in that area. Hard age too, becoming a teenager, and I know he tries not to be difficult but we do clash sometimes, maybe our natures are similar or too different, but I am going to make more effort.

We believe it is important to be there for our kids but the teenage years especially so. They are going through puberty, put up with peer pressure, hormones, bullying, insecurity all those things, and we hear about teenagers going home to an empty house at the end of the day and no-one to talk to about their stuff. With teenage pregnancy on the rise, drug abuse, suicide and all the other things out there, teenagers need parents in their life.

Now I understand that not all parents can be home in the afternoons, and adults think that now their kids are teenagers they can look after themselves (which is true) but what happens when a kid comes home to an empty house and has had a bad day and needs someone to talk to? They may have to wait for three or four hours before a parent comes home and has all that time to think. Has all that time to make things worse in their own minds.

A friend of mine is a teacher and has said to me that if you can be a stay at home parent, do it during the teenage years. It is very nice to stay home when they are little and watch them grow, but emotionally they need you more as teenagers, keeping in mind all those teenage issues.

Anyway, it is something I feel very strongly about, maybe because we waited a long time for our number one and only son to arrive in our life and couldn't imagine then paying someone else to raise him while we were both at work. We didn't see much point in having a family if we weren't going to be there. This is just how we feel for our own small family and what works for us, and do understand everyone's circumstances are different, what works for one doesn't always work for another.

Being a parent is a hard job and it comes with no instruction manual, we just have to do the best we can, be there for our kids as much as we are able and try not to make too many mistakes.