'Twas the day after Christmas

'Twas the day after Christmas 

and all through the house,

the teens were pouting --

a stop, a slam, a grouse.

Ah! The madness continues! Guess that good old Christmas cheer is short lived when the kids aren't  getting exactly what they want.  


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Blue Christmas

This Christmas will be different. Doesn't mean it won't happen. As Mr. Keillor once said: 

"A lovely thing about Christmas is that it’s compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together." 

And yet, not quite "together."
One member of our family will not be with us this Christmas. That happens in many families around the holidays. But this is a kid that will be missing for the first time at the holidays. This Christmas is the first that siblings will be apart. So in many ways it will be a blue Christmas this year.

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divorce

Welcome to "adulthood."

Any parent out there knows that most teens suffer from E.D. Wait a minute, before you misunderstand, I am referring to "entitlement disorder." They want all the privileges and perks of being in the adult world, such as TV, Internet, cell phone, meals out, a car, driver's license and trips to the mall, etc. -- without having to carry out the responsibilities required to provide those luxuries.
 

Fast forward to today.

I had to work today (a Sunday). That happens for adults sometimes. Teen was like: "aw that's too bad, well OK bye, I'm back to the Internet and a movie." Then the phone rings. It is teen's job. This teen was due in to work in 5 minutes. But this teen "didn't really want to work today," but I went ahead and dropped off the burgeoning "adult" at their job on my way to mine.
Mom wasn't the most popular person in the world. But, welcome to "adulthood."

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Good Cop, Bad Cop

"Not being known doesn't stop the truth from being true." (Richard Bach)

I believe that being a Mom automatically means that you are equipped by a sixth sense. That sixth sense is the ability to just know deep in your gut when your kid is lying to you.  Why do they lie? Why are they so cavalier when they lie right to our faces? Some teens believe if they protest their innocence long enough, parents will begin to doubt themselves, but that's not going to happen... not in this parental circle.

"I think parents have to deal with lying the way a cop deals with speeding. If you’re going too fast, he gives you a ticket. He’s not interested in a lot of explanations from you. He’s just going to give you a consequence. Look at it the same way with your child. He didn’t tell the truth, whether the truth was distorted, omitted or withheld. There should simply be consequences for that. The first time you lie, you go to bed an hour early. The second time, you lose your phone. It should be something that the kid feels. You lose your phone for twenty four hours. You lose your phone for two days. You lose computer time or TV time.
The consequences have to make the child uncomfortable or they don’t change anything. The idea is that the next time he’s faced with telling you the truth or lying, he’ll recall how uncomfortable he was when he did the consequence for lying, and he’ll tell you the truth instead." (source)

One of the hardest lessons teen may not learn until they are one day a parent is that the trust that is violated by lying is very slowly and difficultly won back. 

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Silly Teens

Overheard being said by one of my teens yesterday:

"I'm not sure if I'm having a leg spasm or if someone is texting me."

Ah! The modern age! The leg spasm thing is much less likely in today's teens, since they don't seem to favor regular physical activity -- unless it is their thumbs texting on their cell phones.

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Reinventing the wheel

A brief public service announcement to all teens. Your parents have been there, done that, tried that or invented that. You may as well give up now while you are "ahead." No sense reinventing the wheel.

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Penny for your thoughts?

Have you ever wondered what the heck your kids are thinking when they make the choices they do?

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Mortified Mom Madness

Teens like to complain about how their parents embarrass them. But, what about when the teen is truly embarrassing their parent with their behavior?

Then what?

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Beware Teenzilla!

Well, Teenzilla is in a good mood. Any guesses why? Because she got exactly what she manipulated for over the weekend. 

Not to worry though, this too shall pass!

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I know you are but what am I?

Remember, when people have something bad to say about you, it's usually because they have nothing good to say about themselves.

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Funny SH*T my kid says

The front door opens.

The front door closes.

Next we hear:

"Smart cars blow! They're so stupid!"

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