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You are here: Home / Archives for parenting teens

If My 90s Dorm Room Could Talk

September 20, 2021 By Christine Leave a Comment

90s dorm

I wrote this post about my 90s dorm room three years ago for a book project that never came to fruition (I know, I’m still totally bummed, too). I tucked this story deep into the recesses of my hard drive and pretty much forgot about it until a month ago when we dropped Fruit Loop […]

Filed Under: Parenting My Way Tagged With: parenting teens

I’m Not Joining TikTok So Stop Asking. Also, Get Off My Lawn.

April 21, 2021 By Christine Leave a Comment

TikTok

After a round of email correspondence in 2008, a friend wrote back, “You know, you should really join Facebook. It’s so much easier to communicate with friends over there. I think you’d love it.” I was dubious. I had managed to avoid MySpace and barely understood the internet in general, so I sat resolute in […]

Filed Under: Parenting My Way Tagged With: parenting teens, social media

Parents of High School Juniors, I Feel Your Angst

April 15, 2021 By Christine Leave a Comment

high school junior

I had been warned this time was coming, but I resisted. Parents of high school juniors used to look at my toddlers and tell me I would miss the days when I could contain them in a crib at night. Parents of teens would stop me in the grocery store to comment how much they […]

Filed Under: Parenting Is Hard Enough, Uncategorized Tagged With: parenting teens

I Miss My Silly Weekday Morning Routine With My Teens

April 13, 2021 By Christine Leave a Comment

morning

Our morning tradition started, much as they often do, by accident. My son had recently passed his driver’s test. He was preparing to drive to my mother-in-law’s home for the weekend. Because she lives two hours away in another state, I was, naturally, nervous about him being on the open highway so far from home. […]

Filed Under: Parenting My Way Tagged With: parenting teens

My Teen Is Teaching Me How To Set Boundaries. Yes, Really.

April 13, 2021 By Christine 1 Comment

boundaries

One hot summer day, my family and I were at my in-laws’ house for a family pool party. There was music and laughter and kids screaming with delight as they jumped in and out of the pool. It was a pretty typical scene, really. My children, ages three and five at the time, had very […]

Filed Under: Parenting My Way Tagged With: parenting teens

Our Teen Is Driving And So Are His Friends: What The Hell?

September 27, 2020 By Christine Leave a Comment

driving

Judging from the way my son’s face was beaming, I knew the news before he even got the words out of his mouth: his best friend had passed his driving test. Not only was his best friend now a fully licensed driver, but he had also texted my son to ask just how soon they […]

Filed Under: Parenting Is Hard Enough Tagged With: parenting teens

My Teen Spent the Summer Working A Manual Labor Job

September 20, 2020 By Christine Leave a Comment

manual labor

As I entered the job site, I could hear my 16-year-old son before I could see him. The sounds of a radio blaring in an empty room upstairs, combined with the rhythmic thump of a hammer, led me to where he was demolishing a built-in cabinet. He was sweaty, his face covered in dirt and […]

Filed Under: Parenting Is Hard Enough Tagged With: parenting teens

News Flash: Gifted Kids Are Not Always Valedictorians

September 13, 2020 By Christine 1 Comment

Gifted kids

From an early age, our son was inquisitive, precocious and speaking full sentences by the time he was two. When I was out in public with him, older women would always comment on his verbal ability. And they’d all say the same thing, “Oh, he must be gifted. He’s going to go to Harvard, I […]

Filed Under: Parenting My Way Tagged With: gifted teens, parenting teens

The Day My Son Got His Driver’s Permit –and an Unexpected Gift

August 30, 2020 By Christine Leave a Comment

driver's permit

My son’s interest in toy cars has gradually been replaced by an interest in a car of his own and he eagerly awaited the day he could finally get his driver’s permit. When he was a toddler, he was obsessed with trains and cars. Practically every picture I have of him during those years includes […]

Filed Under: Parenting Is Hard Enough Tagged With: parenting teens

5 Things I’d Forgotten About Being A Teenage Girl

August 9, 2020 By Christine Leave a Comment

Teenage girl

When I was a teenager, I distinctly remember spending an entire afternoon organizing my makeup into a Caboodles case. I spent hours arranging my Cover Girl foundation, blue and green eye shadow palettes, and hot pink blush kits in my carryall. I’m not sure why I thought I was going to need to haul every […]

Filed Under: Parenting Is Hard Enough Tagged With: parenting teens, teen girls

My Teen Had a Difficult Teacher and He Survived. Yours Will, Too.

August 2, 2020 By Christine Leave a Comment

My son had a difficult teacher

Over the years, my kids have experienced a variety of teaching styles in the classroom. And, though most of their teachers have been awesome, my son has had two teachers that made life more challenging for all of us—and learning how to deal with difficult teachers taught us a lesson in resiliency. My son walked into […]

Filed Under: Parenting Is Hard Enough Tagged With: parenting teens, teachers

I Graduated from Marvel University…with Honors

July 29, 2020 By Christine Leave a Comment

Marvel

I was nine years old when Return of the Jedi hit the theaters. I remember sitting in a darkened movie theater on a hot summer day with a bucket of popcorn on my lap. As I watched the X-wing starfighters fly across the screen, I distinctly remember thinking that science fiction movies weren’t my thing. The Ewoks […]

Filed Under: Parenting My Way Tagged With: marvel, parenting teens

This Viral Hearing Experiment Proves Teens Can Actually Hear You

July 26, 2020 By Christine Leave a Comment

Teen hearing music

Once again, a heated Internet debate is flaring, only this time, it’s pitting kids and teens against parents. And it’s glorious, trust me. Spoiler alert: a hearing experiment that has taken the internet by storm proves teens have been ignoring you since forever. Yes, really. The people of the Internet love a good debate, particularly […]

Filed Under: Parenting My Way, Uncategorized Tagged With: friendships, parenting teens

Don’t Hate Me: My Teens Are Best Friends (Yes, Really)

July 22, 2020 By Christine 1 Comment

best friends

I hear the slider door of our beach house squeak and the sound of footsteps as they amble down the wooden deck stairs. I can hear them before I see them: my teens are headed out on their summer evening ritual. Every night, shortly after dinner, they grab an ice cream from our beach house […]

Filed Under: Parenting My Way, Uncategorized Tagged With: parenting, parenting teens

My Son’s Senior Year Feels Like Time Is Running Out

July 19, 2020 By Christine 3 Comments

Senior year is coming

I hear the mudroom door slam and the sound of my son yelling, “I’m home, Mah. What’s for dinner?” floats up the stairs to my office. I find him, rummaging in the refrigerator, ravenous after a full day of working on a house renovation for a local realtor. His job this summer has kept him […]

Filed Under: Parenting Is Hard Enough Tagged With: parenting, parenting teens, teens

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