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As for me, the older I get the more appreciation I have for my parents. As the Weasels get older the challenges of raising become more, well, challenging. Be it school work or social interactions, chores or scheduling, they put us through the wringer.
I think back to my teen and tween years and wonder how my parents managed to resist the urge to kill me where my parents found the patience to deal with me and persevere through those years. I now completely understand how their hair became so gray, so quickly.
They say that kids growing up now have it so much harder. They have so many more pressures and exposure than we did. They are more connected and savvy and thus grow-up faster than we did. I don't doubt that this generation of teens have tremendous pressures to deal with, but I really think that my parents had it harder.
When we left the house as teens, we were out on our own. We could be doing anything, anywhere and 'call when you get to so-n-so's house', was an easy hurdle to get around. My parents had to trust that we had good heads on our shoulders and would make good decisions. This often did not work out as well as they would have liked.
When this generation leaves the house, they are still connected to home. They carry cell phones, that we can chip with GPS and track their every move. We can speak to them on a moments notice and verify location through picture messages.
There are cars on the market that will limit how fast the car can go and how loud the radio volume to go when a teen is driving.
If they run into a problem of any type, Mom and Dad are just a phone call away. Thirty years ago, if you got a flat tire, you found yourself walking in search of a pay phone and hoped that you had a dime in your pocket. Now that phone is already in their pocket.
As parents, we can monitor everything that they do on the internet and even set up security blocks of unsavory websites. The same goes for the television.
Yes, I know that teens can still find plenty of ways to get into trouble and work around these roadblocks. The Weasels are Waaaayy better than I was some pretty good kids and yet I still find my hair getting grayer by the day. I can't imagine the heart palpitations my parents must have had every time I left the house, let alone if I wasn't home by curfew.
Sure, being a teen is still hard and so is raising one. I just feel like I have a much larger safety net to catch them in when they do fall and a much deeper admiration for my own parents.
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