It’s Just the Beginning
April 17, 2008A typical picture of a teen girl is one who is on the phone all the time, chatting with girlfriends and talking about boys. Talking to boys, thinking about boys, back talking to her “dumb” parents and rolling her eyes whenever she can. Other than the occasional eye roll, my 13 yr old daughter has never fit into this typical image, and I have always been very grateful for her.
My daughter is calm, reasonable, rational, and helpful. I asked her about her interest in boys a few months ago. Some of her friends are rather boy crazy, but she doesn’t see the attraction in it. Or them, boys I mean. I left the conversation feeling happy and secure in my daughter’s saneness and our continued peace as a family.
A few weeks ago she spent an overnight at a friends house. That one little visit changed all our lives forever. We will never again have the same sense of innocence and naïveté that we enjoyed prior to that visit.
My daughter has turned into a teenager.
She suddenly has a boy interest, and she wants to chat on the computer all the time. Not only she is demanding more time on the internet to chat, she is chatting with numerous people at the same time, some of them on two different servers at the same time, as well as on the phone! Talk about tying up the lines of communication! She calls it multitasking; I call it lunacy. Who needs to carry on three different conversations with one person at the same time?
It was just one night!
I blame K. Or maybe I blame K’s parents for raising a daughter so able to influence my own. I blame Microsoft, the internet, and Graham Bell. And let’s not forget those tiny terrorists called hormones!
I hear rumblings of a dance at a different school and plans for more sleepovers. Heaven help us! Please?
Cabin in the Sky 
I have raised three daughters and I can tell you that sooner or later they all become typical teen age daughters. The only saving grace is that two out of three of them grow out of it.
Oohh…Hope! I like hope…..
Thanks for your visit!
Gosh….
just listened to CBC Radio last night where a mother talking about her daughter on the internet.
I think I might have to take the computer to bed should I ever have a daughter.
Yes, I’m blaming it on K’s parent’s too!
The internet certainly does have a huge influence on everyone’s life, but teens seem to be especially susceptible. Striking the balance is always the key.
Jennifer, welcome to the world of being the mother of a teenage girl. I’ve done it not once, or twice or three or even 4 times, but 5! Yes 5.
The aliens will take back their young one in a few years, and in their place you will find a mature, level headed, sensible young woman. Still with a lot to learn, but better.
The ride will get a little hairy for a while, but it does get better, trust me.
Know that no matter what you do, say or anything else, you will never be right, and she will tell you that you don’t understand what she’s going through, because of course you’ve never been a teenager according to them. You were born a mother and the age you are now.
Every one of my girls that has a child, has, within a month of their own child being born, come to me, wrapped their arms around me and apologised, just for being who they were BEFORE they became a mother themself. THEN they understood, but not before.
That one single moment in time will make up for every argument, and every single minute you suffer while the aliens have your daughter.
Hang in there kiddo. And blame your husband. It’s the man who determines the gender of a child after all.
Works for me!
😆
Well, I just hope it is many, many years before she is sympathetic with me then! LOL
Oooh Jennifer, sounds like the hormones have hit. Yikes, you have my sympathies. My sense though is that it was just a coincidental occurance of the hormones hitting and the sleepover. They often literally change a person overnight. The good news is that she has a good home life and family base, the bad news is this will probably last for another ten years. 😉
Annie
Do you really think it was coincidence? I’m not so convinced! 😉 So good to have you stop and visit Annie. I’m trying to get around to everyone’s place, but it has been hard. The little Superbabe is super sick again. 😦 I haven’t forgotten you though, and i will be by as soon as i can. 🙂
Thanks for your note!
Jennifer
Hello?
Anybody there?
Hope all is well, miss ya.
Oh Spaz,
You do my heart good. Thank you friend.
Jennifer