Talking to Teens

My oldest is a very inteligent and people person. She just loves people. She has been through hell and back with a mental illness that has driven a wedge inbetween the family but we are past it. She is okay and back with us for the most part. Teens are never one hundred percent with you. That is a fact of life and as a parent you have to deal with it.

I talked with my oldest daughter out on the deck tonight. Her friend was in crisis earlier in the day and she told me how she talked her down out the situation. I was so proud. She has grown up so much and changed so much in the span of one year that I was dumbfounded. Our oldest is diagnosed with Bi-Polar and extreme other issues and she has spent must of the last year in a locked facility. The people there helped her so much to learn how to deal with her life long issues that she reaches out to others to help them. One year ago we were one breath away from a casket and funeral and today we have our baby back.

If you ever want to talk to your kid, just do it. Take the time, make the time and just do it. The teen years are very impressionable and you need to make sure that you have a say in what they do in life. Even if you think your kid isn't listening to what you have to say then you just need to say it and put it out there. Kids need to know that their parents care. Hell I'm still listening to my older friends and relatives to see how I could do better for my own family. It's all about direction and choice.

Teenagers are tough. They own the world or think they do. But they still take in some of what you say as a Mom or a Dad. Time will only tell if what you said registered.

Papamoka

Bed times

We have such a vast age difference in kids that the little one that is three thinks she is at the least ten or twelve. Bed time for her is never easy. If we don't get her to settle down early enough then she can be a little blessing from above with a temper all day long. Mom pays the ultimate price if our little one does not get her ten plus hours of sleep. When she doesn't get her sleep it is so amazing to see her talking up a storm one minute and her little batteries just burn out whenever they burn out no matter what she is doing.

Kids need sleep and the younger they are it seems the more sleep they need till they hit their teen years. Our sixteen year old would sleep twelve hours or more a day if we let her. Just for fact checking...we do not let her sleep twelve hours a day. As much as she tries to claim that she is part cat like her sister pet cat Jennifur we still make her get up. We deal with the grumblings as she eats her breakfast and yawns non-stop.

Anywho, set a bedtime no matter if school is out or in. Right now in our household school is out for the summer. Stick to it. Parents need time to be together as well.

Papamoka

Where to begin...

My wife and I have five daughters and yes we are slowly going insane. In our later years we just might repay the girls for all their special gifts by having them change our diapers! The girls are sixteen, eleven, eight, five and three. Yes the factory is closed but that is another subject for another day.

So this little space is going to be used for daily or weekly tips on how to deal with your kids and get them to the next level of life. Sometimes it is tough to raise kids and sometimes it is a breeze. It's the inbetween times that will get your blood flowing and enjoying them as their little minds grow up to eventually become an adult.

Can you hear in the back of your mind your own mother swearing and cursing that she hopes you have children just like you. BINGO! Your children are you and now you have to deal with the same issues your mother did so many years ago when you were the nightmare on Elm Street. Don't deny your past, you know you were.

I look forward to your comments and feedback. The more the better to help other parents dealing with real life issues that are popping up on a daily basis. I would especially appreciate your comical stories about what your kids did or said. Those are the times all of us as parents can enjoy.

Live Life and enjoy your children.

Papamoka