Many parents believe that the hardest part is raising infants and that things get easier as children grow older. This is partially true: as kids become more independent, parents often gain more time for themselves. However, new challenges arise, such as teenage rebellion. Parents must also come to terms with the fact that their child is no longer a little one, but an individual with their own sense of self.
- “I moved to a new town neighbor and his friends asked me to hang out. We went to a parking lot (Halloween night). Cops showed up because we were lighting fireworks at cars passing by. We ran (bad decision) and they cuffed me and put me in the back of the car. I asked the cop to buckle me in because I couldn’t do it. He looked at me with disbelief and then did it. He drove around looking for the others asking me questions. I told him my story and he let me go. He said don’t be an idiot and find different people to hang out with.”
- I always wanted to learn to do pull-ups but lacked motivation. Now I have a teenage daughter. It’s hard with her, but I love her very much and try to stay calm.
So when my patience runs out and our dialog becomes non-constructive, I do pull-ups (we installed a doorway bar for this purpose) and drink a glass of water. Steam comes out, and I am ready for dialogue again. Gradually reducing the load of expanders, I’ve learned to pull up without them. - My older sister limits her son’s computer time. Every evening, when he sits down at the computer, she controls the time and doesn’t allow him to sit longer than 11 p.m. Around 10:30, she starts reminding him that it’s time to go to bed.
And once, my parents and sister were invited to someone’s anniversary party, and I stayed with my nephew. We had dinner, and after that, we both were busy with our own thing. Around 10:40 p.m. my nephew asked, “Why don’t you remind me it’s bedtime?” I said, “I’m not your mother, you’re 12, you’ll figure it out on your own.”
And he replied, “Oh, yeah? You don’t care about me, and you don’t care about my eyesight (apparently, my sister was pestering him that he was going to ruin his eyesight), I’m still a teenager!” With those words, he made his bed and went to sleep. What was that?
- I was in the subway and witnessed a conversation between a mother and her daughter, a teenage girl about 12–13 years old. Her mother said, “We need to buy you a phone for school because you drowned yours in the camp. What phone do you want?” The girl replied, “I want a Samsung like Paul’s.”
Her mother objected, “Let’s buy you something more expensive, because at school all the girls have iPhones, and you’ll have this cheap phone.” And the girl replied, “Mom, why would I need an iPhone at school? Someone can steal it, or I’ll be constantly afraid that someone will steal it. Let’s better save this money for Grandma’s dental treatment.”
I couldn’t hear them anymore. But it felt like I was in a parallel universe. - “Years and years ago, my younger sister had these obnoxious knee-high boots. Like extremely obnoxious. I don’t know if it was the sound of them clunking around everywhere or the fact that she’d NEVER take them off and refused to wear any other shoes. Anywho, I got so sick of the brat she became when the boots were on, that one day I threw one of them in the trash. I had full intentions of retrieving it from the trash but by the time I thought about it, it was too late. My mother had taken out the trash… Weeks went by of my sister crying and throwing fits because she didn’t have her boot, along with mom freaking out because she couldn’t take one more second of my sister freaking out… It was pure chaos in my house. My mom spent months looking for the boot while I sat there in silence… I couldn’t tell her… and still haven’t… and never will…”
- “In my first year of high school, I made a new friend in class. One day he brought 6 little tins (model paint tins) covered in tape and there was a little wick on top of it. ’Here have these, my dad makes them.’ I took them home and in the middle of the night, I snuck down to a park and lit one. A single tiny tin shot sparks and glowing embers 30 feet into the air. It was
What happened next changed everything…
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