The topic of “tattoos” is difficult for me. Maybe it’s age (but not like tattoos haven’t been around for a while), or maybe it’s just me, but I’m not a big fan of them. Of course the other thing that I’m not a fan of is anything sharp, and it just looks painful to me. So I lecture my teen on what certain tattoos can look like later in life, and I just have to say, “Save the money.”
But it seems that for many of her older friends who are in college, getting a tattoo seemed to be a rite of passage their freshman year. Let’s see, “Books or a tattoo?” “Money on the dining card or a tattoo…?” And I’ve had mom-friends sigh and say to me, “What do you do, they’re old enough and out on their own now.”
When my teen was a little girl she’d say, “Mom, that person has ink on them.” One of those cute memory book quotes. Who knew years later that she’d have ink on her body! Okay it wasn’t really ink, it was Crayola Washable Markers… and it was for a costume… and it washed right off.
I was all ready to give my, What This Could Lead To speech, when my teen said to me, “Mom, I just didn’t have any scrap paper to doodle on, so I drew on my arm.” Save the arm honey; here’s money for mom for a pad of paper!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
The Nagging Years
Remember the television program from the late ‘80s, The Wonder Years starring Fred Savage? It’s not like I was a big fan of the series, but I thought about it the other day when I became convinced that a teen’s junior year in high school could be named The Nagging Years.
At a time when you want to embrace and cherish your teen’s last two years of high school before they take off on their own and are no longer be under your watchful eye (and ear), you find you’re nagging all the time. Here’s recent litany at our house:
Did you, “…Sign up for this, register for this, volunteer here, talk to this person, apply here, finish this, thought about it…” and the list goes on.
It’s enough to drive your teenager away in two years. Maybe it’s a secret, diabolical plot to motivate your teen to leave the nest and move on.
But I’m changing the channel here. My newest plan of attack is to balance every day with “Did you…” with “Can I…” and “I love you…” questions and sentiments.
I don’t want to ever lose sight of these “wonder” moments with my teen. I want to be able to ask in a couple years, “Do you miss me” and let her know she’s still a star.
At a time when you want to embrace and cherish your teen’s last two years of high school before they take off on their own and are no longer be under your watchful eye (and ear), you find you’re nagging all the time. Here’s recent litany at our house:
Did you, “…Sign up for this, register for this, volunteer here, talk to this person, apply here, finish this, thought about it…” and the list goes on.
It’s enough to drive your teenager away in two years. Maybe it’s a secret, diabolical plot to motivate your teen to leave the nest and move on.
But I’m changing the channel here. My newest plan of attack is to balance every day with “Did you…” with “Can I…” and “I love you…” questions and sentiments.
I don’t want to ever lose sight of these “wonder” moments with my teen. I want to be able to ask in a couple years, “Do you miss me” and let her know she’s still a star.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Apple Doctor
Sad day. My teen’s MacBook Pro laptop went on the blink. Or more accurately, went on the black. Her screen went black and she wasn’t able to call up anything.
So we quickly headed to the MacLife Store (www.MacLifeBoise.com) and to their service depot. I know how I feel with any computer or server glitches, so she had my complete sympathy.
After several tests and scans, they determined that they should hold onto her laptop for a longer look and more tests. Looking beyond the potential $500 price tag (which was the estimate if it wasn’t still covered under warranty), I actually thought how nice it would be not tied to a computer for a few days.
But once I saw the deflated look on her face, I realized we had different opinions about our relationships with our computers. For her, it was her life and it’s been her life growing up. Photos, homework, correspondence, artwork, music, and more were all there at her fingertips. Now her life was precariously on hold and for a few days, in the hands of a stranger.
Two anxious days went by, and after some technical jargon and procedures that I’ll never understand, it was determined the laptop was now fine, just a quirky computer thing, that mercifully was covered under warranty. Happy day now.
So we quickly headed to the MacLife Store (www.MacLifeBoise.com) and to their service depot. I know how I feel with any computer or server glitches, so she had my complete sympathy.
After several tests and scans, they determined that they should hold onto her laptop for a longer look and more tests. Looking beyond the potential $500 price tag (which was the estimate if it wasn’t still covered under warranty), I actually thought how nice it would be not tied to a computer for a few days.
But once I saw the deflated look on her face, I realized we had different opinions about our relationships with our computers. For her, it was her life and it’s been her life growing up. Photos, homework, correspondence, artwork, music, and more were all there at her fingertips. Now her life was precariously on hold and for a few days, in the hands of a stranger.
Two anxious days went by, and after some technical jargon and procedures that I’ll never understand, it was determined the laptop was now fine, just a quirky computer thing, that mercifully was covered under warranty. Happy day now.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Election 2010
Now that the candidate’s political campaign signs are down, it‘s hard to believe we just had another general election.
Harder to believe is thinking when my teenager will be allowed to vote for the first time; the first time she’ll receive one of those cute flag-waving stickers and have someone at our neighborhood voting precinct say, “_____ has voted.”
And you know what; it’ll be here before she knows it. In fact she’ll be of-age by the next presidential election in 2012. So her dad and I have two more years to help her. Not on “who” and “what” to vote for, but instead, to be a constant reminder as to why it’s important to take part in democracy, be engaged by being knowledgeable about the issues and the candidates, and to never miss a chance to cast your ballot. www.idahovotes.gov.
Harder to believe is thinking when my teenager will be allowed to vote for the first time; the first time she’ll receive one of those cute flag-waving stickers and have someone at our neighborhood voting precinct say, “_____ has voted.”
And you know what; it’ll be here before she knows it. In fact she’ll be of-age by the next presidential election in 2012. So her dad and I have two more years to help her. Not on “who” and “what” to vote for, but instead, to be a constant reminder as to why it’s important to take part in democracy, be engaged by being knowledgeable about the issues and the candidates, and to never miss a chance to cast your ballot. www.idahovotes.gov.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Scary Halloween
While I was putting away the Halloween decorations (that were late to go up anyway!), it seemed like it had been a depressing Halloween at our house. This was the first official Halloween that our teen did not dress up on Halloween.
Equally depressing (I proposed they went hand-in-hand), was the amount of Halloween decorations that I put up—or the lack thereof—on time or late! The costume:decorations ratio was pretty much even.
She actually did get dressed up for a party, but that fell on Saturday, the 2010 very odd, day-before-the-actual-day of Halloween. So while adorable little trick or treaters came to our non-decorated door for candy, she was doing chemistry!
Someone suggested that I have my now-too-old-to-trick-or-treat teen put up the Halloween decorations. That’s a great idea—especially since I have a bowl of candy leftover to offer as a bribe. I don’t want the candy to be around too long, but it might be good to keep for even future bribery. Think about it—how many days left until the Christmas decorations need to go up…?
Equally depressing (I proposed they went hand-in-hand), was the amount of Halloween decorations that I put up—or the lack thereof—on time or late! The costume:decorations ratio was pretty much even.
She actually did get dressed up for a party, but that fell on Saturday, the 2010 very odd, day-before-the-actual-day of Halloween. So while adorable little trick or treaters came to our non-decorated door for candy, she was doing chemistry!
Someone suggested that I have my now-too-old-to-trick-or-treat teen put up the Halloween decorations. That’s a great idea—especially since I have a bowl of candy leftover to offer as a bribe. I don’t want the candy to be around too long, but it might be good to keep for even future bribery. Think about it—how many days left until the Christmas decorations need to go up…?
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Teen’s First Job
I bet your teen’s first introduction to having a job wasn’t unlike so many other teens: babysitting, mowing lawns, watching a neighbor’s pet, etc. And usually as a parent, you still had some involvement with their first jobs whether it was gentle reminders, looking over their work, and the unthinkable, stepping in to help if their homework or sports schedule conflicted. It can’t happen though with their first job “away” from home.
When our teenager came home announcing that she got a part-time job, I felt a little panicky. Had we as her parents done a good job on preparing her for her first “real” job? It’s real easy to ask, request, then gently nag to get something down around the house (I mean how fun are chores around home), but in the real world, working for someone else, not cool. In fact we relayed to her the importance of being eager, showing initiative, and working hard. It’s different working under someone’s watchful eye.
She came home almost giddy after her first day. “Do you know how hard it is to clean windows mom?” Hmm, maybe I did need to work a little harder at my job…
When our teenager came home announcing that she got a part-time job, I felt a little panicky. Had we as her parents done a good job on preparing her for her first “real” job? It’s real easy to ask, request, then gently nag to get something down around the house (I mean how fun are chores around home), but in the real world, working for someone else, not cool. In fact we relayed to her the importance of being eager, showing initiative, and working hard. It’s different working under someone’s watchful eye.
She came home almost giddy after her first day. “Do you know how hard it is to clean windows mom?” Hmm, maybe I did need to work a little harder at my job…
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Where’s the Video Camera?
“Where’s the video camera,” was something we were always saying when our now teenager was doing something very cute and I’m sure very advanced for her toddler years. Or better yet, “Can’t believe we forgot to charge the camera” as we missed that one memorable moment that we feared would be lost forever. Recently we brought the video camera out again—this time to pay someone to video our teen.
Before you get any ideas, the videotaping was for our daughter’s, I guess you could say, resume. She’s hoping to compete at the collegiate level in golf and a swing video is just one part of the resume package, stats, and letters which she’ll be sending out.
Kind of funny—we missed some memorable moments (although my 35mm camera was an integral part of her childhood) on video, but we helped plan every moment of this video. We were eager to show others how cute we think she is and how well she plays—we’ll see if she’s advanced enough to catch a coach’s eye.
I haven’t missed any memorable moments of her golf. I’ve got a big plastic tub full of photos, scorecards, and related memorabilia, a full resume to look back on.
Before you get any ideas, the videotaping was for our daughter’s, I guess you could say, resume. She’s hoping to compete at the collegiate level in golf and a swing video is just one part of the resume package, stats, and letters which she’ll be sending out.
Kind of funny—we missed some memorable moments (although my 35mm camera was an integral part of her childhood) on video, but we helped plan every moment of this video. We were eager to show others how cute we think she is and how well she plays—we’ll see if she’s advanced enough to catch a coach’s eye.
I haven’t missed any memorable moments of her golf. I’ve got a big plastic tub full of photos, scorecards, and related memorabilia, a full resume to look back on.
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