Kids. Can't live with 'em, pass the beer nuts

ARG.

Moms with young'uns, heed my words: the teenage years are one big emotional roller coaster. For YOU.

Those kids of mine! I never know from day to day any more whether I love them or hate them. Well, not hate them, really. Just, you know, really, really not like being around them. Because, for one, they're SO MOODY!!! I never know for sure what I'm going to get anymore - smiles and laughs...or tears and recriminations. When they're cranky, I don't want to be anywhere near them. No sir. I'll just be up in my room, hiding until the full moon has passed, thank you very much.

And something that nobody told me before, that teenagers are actually very, very dumb. It's like their brains turn off for a decade or so between 13 and 23. That must be the cause, for why else would they make such stupid, stupid choices?? They KNOW how dumb they are being, but they do it anyway. I repeat, ARG!

They don't seem to have the ability to look ahead and anticipate the consequences of their actions. I know, I know, I didn't either at that age. But I know now, so why won't they believe me when I tell them that they are making choices now that are determining the course of the rest of their life?? Do they think I'm making it up? Sometimes I think I will explode with a combination of frustration and worry for them. Again I say, ARG!

There are a lot of tears around here these days. For these kids all have hormones raging through them, and to them everything is A MAJOR CRISIS. The emotions run so high these days, and you see how confusing and frustrating and frightening it all is for them. And you know, nothing really extraordinary his happening...it's just ordinary life. And its so hard on them. So I don't always say ARG. Sometimes I have to put a comforting arm around a confused kid and reassure them with the words my mom always reassured me with: "Never mind, bunny. Never mind." And for a while, they don't. They give it over to mom (or dad) and allow themselves to be children again, just for a little while. Deep down, they know it's a comforting lie - they're not children anymore, and soon they will have to resume navigating the netherworld between childhood and adulthood. Hopefully they will not forget that they don't have to do it alone, that God has given them parents to guide them through.

There are also days of great joy. When the sun and the moon align and everybody is happy at the same time. Those are the days that get me through, because for as much as they can make me crazy, they can also be great fun to be with.

This past week my husband had to go to Iowa for business and it was just me and the kids. They have been SO good all week. I don't know if they made an extra effort or what, but they were happy and agreeable and obedient this week. On Wednesday night, I took them to the theatre to see a play called The Drawer Boy. I wasn't sure if they would enjoy it or not, but they all loved it. They talked about it all the way home. It was late when we got back into town - almost 11 pm - but it was a hot night and we stopped for a Dairy Queen. Brought it back home and sat on the back porch, licking our cones and talking and laughing. I went to bed way past my bed time, but it was so worth it.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring? I never do any more. I'll just keep praying and doing my best to guide these young men and women into adulthood.