Parenting a teenager can be quite a daunting task as most will agree.There can be daily doses of amazement, joy and frustrations.All parents to teenagers (PTT) suddenly start feeling the heat morning after their 'child's 12th birthday.Certain two way things overnight take the one way route like,
Communication-
courtesy google images
Teenagers are
walnuts, you get habituated to talking to walls and dealing with nuts and them being tough nuts to crack comes free.You waiiit for your turn to be given a ear which has been hijacked by a headphone or an earphone or a mobile phone with a phony friend at the other end or all of them at once.So the moment you feel even a fraction of a second that the ear is devoid of any of these attachments,you shoot from your mouth-brush your teeth,have bath,change into something nice,and HI THIS IS MOM REMEMBER!!!
Do not wait for any response from the other end ,it is not happening in this world of teens literally and otherwise.
Traffic-One way and that is out mostly and in very rarely in.Inward traffic, singular or plural in terms of company means,immediate plans for an outward trip,urgent need to use the loo or kitchen, and of course dire need of cash .
Cash-PTT has to be extra vigilant in case of the last need as cash flow acquires a directly proportional trait - outwards mostly.It is perfectly normal to feel incompetent financially (amongst other things) during this period.You might actually start earning more to cope with the demand and that certainly is an advantage, whose??...your guess is as good as mine!
In addition to the above,the frequent and extended trips to the restroom is like an endless wait for the PTT.One trip ends and the other begins.Every PTT learns to grab the attention of the teen sometime after a few foiled attempts.A patient teenager(they exist I swear!!) once clarified that the term 'rest room' was coined by a teenager and that they were just that,-rest -rooms to rest the nerves after the naggings of the world in general and PTT in particular.Rest rooms are perfect havens for, chatting with friends,cooing to girlfriend/boyfriend ,listening to earth-shattering music,and the last one really had me ROTFL ..thinking (do they ,really!?? )
Every PTT should get used to strange figures and faces inhabiting his /her house.They usually mean no serious harm.Just stay focussed and hug and kiss your own sleeping teen in the morning for your own safety.A sleeping teen is an angel and you are guaranteed to be rewarded with return affectionate gestures only in this form .An awake teenager acquires a walnut form if you know what I mean. A cooperative,patient,eager to listen ,talkative teenager means only one thing..a big dent into your resources and it is now your turn to switch into the walnut mode.Efficacy into this mode is directly proportional to resiliency.Best of luck!
courtesy google images
No attempt to be cool in your teen's eyes will ever make you cool.So and so's PTT will always be cooler than you .Stop trying,you are better off being uncool.Get habituated to filling your kitchen larder,wardrobe,cosmetic shelves and of course cash boxes without cribbing.I once made the mistake of cribbing aloud in front of my dad as to how I was fed up of forever missing things in my house .."You'll wish there was someone to use things after a decade.
Its much better than missing beings beta! Soak in the experience while you can ,once they spurt wings and fly away,you'll yearn for these very things in life."he said without looking up from his morning paper.
How true and how painful!!
