Truly, the secret to happiness must be the ability to take a negative and form it into a positive. Resilience in life is inarguably one of the most important personality traits we can own.
I think as a parent of preteens it isn't just an important life tool, it is crucial to surviving the mercurial years of adolescence. Life throws us a lot of lemons, and if we're to get through the labyrinth of parenthood with ourselves and our children intact, we need to know how to make a mean lemonade.
Recently, I thwarted a truckload of citrus with my usual weapon: laughter. Granted, my older children rarely appreciate my humor, especially when used as a coping tool, and it flies over the heads of my younger offspring. But for me? It saves my life.
This weekend we had family in town, and my girls had convinced their Nana to take them to the mall for an afternoon of shopping. I agreed, but told them they needed to eat lunch before heading out. When you are a young parent with only one or maybe two children to cook for, it is easy to morph into the short-order cook who caters to the various culinary whims of each family member. When you have four children, a spouse and house guests, people eat what's set in front of them or they go hungry. And when they're my kids, they eat what's set in front of them, period. I had set out plates of turkey sandwiches, grapes and chips for lunch, and when I placed lunch in front of my oldest, she sneered and pushed her plate away.
"Mom. I only eat turkey at Thanksgiving now. I don't eat it in October." She then rolled her eyes heavenward in a way reminiscent of grand mal seizure victims and other teens across the globe.
Interested in reading more? Head over to GNM Parents for the rest......**Edited to add: I'm not sure when today my post goes up over there. But I needed to get this up and out the door...**
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10 comments:
ack! you're not up over there yet? How will I wait to find out how you managed to use humor as opposed to a backhand? (kidding about the hitting of course!)
OK. That is just mean. I hurry on over there, desperate to learn what exactly you say to your eye-roller, in hopes I can recycle it for use with mine... and you're not there. Humph. I guess I'll just have to fall back on my usual - sticking my tongue out at her. It hasn't been working, though...
When life gives me lemons, I make lemon drops...heavy on the vodka. They also ease the pain of parenting tween and teens. I promise.
Ummm Skip and Go Nekkid Lemonade always helps Mama to feel better!
It should be up! 3:00 EST, doh!
Lemon Drops? YUM - why didn't I think of that???
I went over to GNM and read the rest. Jen, you are a genius, you really are. God, grant me the ability to be the parent you are when my girls are teens. Please,God, pretty please!
Mrs G, I'm all for the lemondrop approach!
Hey! Another GNMP writer! I'm so happy you've joined us!!
I could not opent he comments over at GNM....
But I really like how you dealt with the situation. We do not say grace in our home but I impart he same messages to my girls all the time.
Nicely handled. Taking notes....
Our rule is pretty simple. We make a meal and if you don't like/want it, make your own.
I am growing tired of the "there's nothing here to eat". My response, put it on the list and I'll get it the next time I'm at the store.
Invariably nothing goes on the list and the same phrase.....shampoo, rinse, repeat.
Aren't teenage girls lovely?
Thanks for stopping by. I have a preteen too! And four children! And live in AZ! I'll have to stop by here more often! (Wow, that's a lot of exclamation points.)
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