It's a good thing they start out small & cute

[wyodeb]

Because if they started out as 13-yr-olds, the human race would be extinct! I want to know who kidnapped my 2 sweet babies and left me with these smart-mouthed teens!

There, now I feel better...

Deb

[unclrob]

Hey I say that now and he's only 6.......OH NO in 7 years he'll be 13 and I'll be in big trouble. :SHK>Are we allowed to RUNAWAY.......

[roknroll]

yup, 13s about the age I got my first "hard" whoopin...Don't worry, it only lasts for another 6 years...I'm sure you can handle that :TON> It only gets worse...what with the pregnancys, drugs and other illegal behaviors!  hahahahhahahahah!!! 

j/k, I'm sure your kids will be a lot better than I was

[Cowgirlie]

Deb,
Aliens took your kids, sucked their brains out, and pumped theri head cavities full of cheddar cheese and alien brain cells. If they blow their noses regularly for the next 7 or 8 years, they will be human again. I feel for you!
Juni

[poki]

Deb, i can arrange for an accident if you wish

disclaimer: no children were harmed in the making of this post but a mullet had a bad day :POL>

[ronmac]

Is there a "Teenagers for Dummies" book?

The adolescent years are quite a roller coaster ride. Young adults need special guidance. Too short a rope and they will break it; too long and they will get lost. Hang in there. Lead by example and try not to get discouraged. They usually come out of their nosedive just before they hit the ground!

And when you wonder "what the heck were they thinking?", you can pretty much be guaranteed they weren't. 

[brimc76]

Deb, I'm sure they are just having their teen "brain freeze" moments - it'll pass.

[unclrob]

Poki,were'd you get that pix of my son.Thats not a mullet thats a chicken nugget.

[inspector13]

I have 3 that are 18 (yes that is right 3 at 18) and the best advice I can give is stay active in their activities, always be consistent and most of all talk to your kids openly about everything, I mean everything. All mine turned out to be people I proud of. So good luck!

[Tycho]

My mother once ruefully observed that my brother and I were transformed overnight from loveable little boys into sullen long-haired monsters with a one-word vocabulary.  (Three guesses as to what the one word was.)  But that was 35 years ago, and we both turned out to be reasonably productive citizens.

[dcarey]

Because if they started out as 13-yr-olds, the human race would be extinct! I want to know who kidnapped my 2 sweet babies and left me with these smart-mouthed teens!

There, now I feel better...

Deb

13?  Hah!!

Wait'll they're 18.

Geezer

[wyodeb]

I have 3 that are 18 (yes that is right 3 at 18) and the best advice I can give is stay active in their activities, always be consistent and most of all talk to your kids openly about everything, I mean everything. All mine turned out to be people I proud of. So good luck!

I have two 13s and a 16. Our 16-year-old shows glimmers of her former self, and is getting fun to be around again. The other 2 aren't obnoxious all the time, but when they are... I hate that "Mom, how can you possibly be so stupid?" look. I have a lot more compassion for my parents now.

Deb

[Steve]

They usually come out of their nosedive just before they hit the ground!

I have 3 kids, two daugthers and and my oldest is my son.  20, 19, 17 years old.  I find that some of them nosedive, hit the ground, bounce up, do it all over again and THEN they say...wow Dad you were right, I shouldn't have done that.

Raising kids today is no easy task!  It's full of joy and pain.

Steve

[Denis]

Mine, both boys, are 3 years and the other is 9 months.  I've been through the terrible twos with the first one so far...just think what I have to look forward to.   :WNK>

[naboz]

Yeah, Deb...I just laughed when I read this!  I have a 13 yr.old girlie and the boy is 12. But then I see the more rotten attitudes at the alternative h.s. I teach at, and I think, mine are going to make it...at least to 14!  Being a parent is the hardest job I have ever done, and when I was on the road traveling, I had some pretty nasty ones.  :TON>

[dcarey]

To simplify things, just ignore everything they do 'till they're 35.
Makes life a lot easier 8^)

Dan

[Daysailer]

I have 3 ...and the best advice I can give is stay active in their activities, always be consistent and most of all talk to your kids openly about everything, I mean everything. All mine turned out to be people I proud of. So good luck!

Ditto

3 here too.  24, 22, and 20.  All came home for the holiday.  Nice to have the back yard full of games again.  ....  but there are 6.  hmmmm.   Oh yeah....  2 son in laws and a semi perminate girl friend. .    now got 6 to be proud of.     ^_^

phill   

[D4ve]

Throw away the encyclopedias. You don't need them anymore.
Once a kid becomes a teenager he/she...but mostly he I think...knows it all. All you have to do is ask and if your lucky you'll get an answer.  ^_^

[jambrose]

Two boys, 18 and 21.

I agree, it's a good thing they start out small and cute. We're fortunate, they're good boys.
I'll leave it at.....we've had some issues here and there.....

My wife and I have really learned a lot about unconditional love, and also when to make hard choices to help them learn....and knowing the right time to apply each.

[dbirchett]

In a recent Sunday School lesson I made the point that while we don't know how old Isaac was when Abraham was directed to sacrifice him, we can be sure that he wasn't a teenager.

1. If he had been a teenager, it wouldn't have been a sacrifice.

2. It would have taken more than one angel to stay Abraham's hand.