BlogHer - preteens - Comments

That is one thing you got

Oh Baby Gifts — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:14:36 -0500

That is one thing you got down....we will never be on the same level as our kids. It was like that for me when I was a kid and the same for my kids. Btw when was the last time you tried nailing jello to a tree? lol that just had me rolling.

Joelle
Oh Baby Gifts

Thank you!

moddivorce — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 12:53:57 -0500

For making things clear about teens! My stepson morphed from a sweet, honest, excited 12 year old to an alien 14 year old who doesn't want anything to do with his dad right now...and luckily for my stepson, his mom is okay with that! Needless to say, it's been a rough 6 months for father and son trying to rebuild their relationship. I'm going to share this post with him, because I keep trying to remind him that teens are teens are teens, but he still hasn't caught on.

Thank goodness teen years don't last forever!!

Helene
The Modern Woman's Divorce Guide
http://themodernwomansdivorceguide.com

I like high schoolers

Denise — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 12:02:06 -0500

Middle schoolers - not so much. In fact, middle school aged children are the most troubling children and it's a good thing middle school only lasts a few years.

The angst, ohhhhhhhhhh the angst.

~Denise
Fast Times @ Homeschool High & Flamingo House Happenings

A few years ago I asked a

maryrwise — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 11:36:28 -0500

A few years ago I asked a friend how his 16-year old daughter was doing. He said, "Well, everything she says to me ends with an implicit 'You asshole'."

I'm glad he had a sense of humor about it -- and glad that you do too! And, I can state that this, too, shall pass; soon you will once again be worth talking to! ;-)

The Blog: Red Nose
The Book: Girl Clown

Don't worry...you'll be cool.

Catherine Morgan — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:52:46 -0500

Even the "uncool" are cool to their kids through the elementary years...it's just after that when your perceived coolness begins to subside.

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
also at CatherineBlogs.com and The Political Voices of Women

I think being prepared is key.

Catherine Morgan — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:33:26 -0500

I think being prepared is key...The person at my son's school basically was using some sort of "scared straight" approach (and I didn't like it one bit)...I think explaining that there are going to be big changes (and that it isn't bad, it's just adolescence), and maybe giving parents some constructive advice...that would be a better way for the school to approach this subject.

I wasn't ready to hear any negativity about my son at that point. But once things did seem to change...I didn't feel I was being a bad parent...I realized that it was all just part of the normal "adolescence metamorphosis" of middle school. And probably all the other parents were going thru something similar, knowing you're not alone makes it a bit easier to deal with also.

Even worse than middle school is high school...when they get a girlfriend and seem to like her better than you...actually sometimes they seem to not like you at all. But, it's just a phase...and the important thing is that your kids know you love them...no matter what they "change" into.

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
also at CatherineBlogs.com and The Political Voices of Women

as a not yet a parent...

Lyssann — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:33:10 -0500

...you should no that I am not immune to the uncool either. I'm 27 and my 17 year old cousin told my aunt (who's much younger than my parents, I was the flower girl in their wedding) that she couldn't believe that I was on facebook because I'm way too old for that. I have officially reached terminally uncool status. I guess I can go ahead and have my own kids since apparently there's no hope for me.

Healthy Manifest

Well, of course it is tongue in cheek!

Jennifer Satterwhite — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:06:00 -0500

I have a wonderful relationship with my teen and near-teen. I was not the one who said, "No matter how well you think you know your child now, by the end of this year, your child will turn into someone you will not even recognize...and not in a good way." It was someone at Catherine's teen's school.

Either way, if you think for an instant you can go into the teen years without changes, please talk to other parents, educators, experts, teens etc. Because this is the biggest time of change in their lives.

I am sorry you feel it is too much. I deal with the changes with my kids in much the same way they do with me...humor.

Feel free to let me know how my post and my words were too much for you because I am surprised to see something so obviously tongue in cheek taken so seriously.

Oh, and the ultimate seal of approval? My son read it, laughed and agreed with me. He gets it.

~Jenn~
Mommy Needs Coffee | Mommybloggers | Fresh Brewed Reviews

It's a shame

Jennifer Satterwhite — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 18:59:45 -0500

It is a shame when school administrators think it is fine to say that. As mothers, we can joke about it. Or at least most of us can if we have been there and/or have good relationships with our kids. The thing is, this is a huge time of change. Good or bad or in between. If you are not prepared for some changes...well, I feel badly for anyone who is not.

~Jenn~
Mommy Needs Coffee | Mommybloggers | Fresh Brewed Reviews

Kids and parents

birthcontrol.md — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 18:27:19 -0500

I realize much of the post is tongue and cheek, but It's too much.

No matter how well you think you know your child now, by the end of this year, your child will turn into someone you will not even recognize...and not in a good way.

You're kidding me.

I will never forget...

Catherine Morgan — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 18:04:51 -0500

I will never forget the evening I went to my first parent orientation at my son's middle school. Once the man (I think he might have been a school counselor, but I'm not sure) doing the orientation covered all the curriculum stuff, he then said something like this...

No matter how well you think you know your child now, by the end of this year, your child will turn into someone you will not even recognize...and not in a good way.

I was so mad that night. I thought, "how rude and presumptuous" of this stupid man, he doesn't know anything about the relationship I have with my son. How can he make such a broad statement about teens, they aren't all going to change so dramatically?

Well. The stupid man was right. And I was wrong. Oh, how I hate it when that happens.

Great post Jen.

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
also at CatherineBlogs.com and The Political Voices of Women