Adolescent Arithmetic

I have learned as a parent of teenagers that there is a direct correlation between the level of defensiveness an adolescent exhibits and the accuracy of parent's intuition regarding what they believe is really going on.

The formula?
The greater the indignant defensive teen rant = the greater chance that the parent nailed it when they called it as they saw it.

You do the math.
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My heart will go on

Over the Winter break one of my kids had a long daytime date with their suitor. Not a newsworthy event in and of itself.

But, then it was maybe a day or so later we went to the store--and wouldn't you know it--my child's suitor and family just happened to also arrive to that store parking lot (likely through the magic of 24/7 texting between the 2 of them reporting every breath to the other) at that exact same moment in time.
You would have thought these two teens had not seen each other in weeks... maybe months! They clung to each other like Leo and Kate to that hunk of wood in the freezing waters after the Titanic sank. It was madness I tell you!

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'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.  


children

parenting

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Oh, did I interrupt dinner?

The scene: me in my SUV, driving through my ex's dining room window right in the middle of a family meal.
Oh, did I interrupt dinner?