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This archived content is from Mary Wilkins’ sewing and
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From: MaryW
Date: 05-16-2006, 09:46 AM (1 of 23)
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I forgot what teenagers were like. We had three teenagers in the house but those days are long gone. Now my grandson is bringing back the memories. UGH!!! Smart-mouthed, attitude galore and no respect. I must get my armor on and set things straight. I can tell this summer is going to be a real charm. He better find some sort of job or I will need to be physically restrained. Just my rant for the day. MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542 
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From: mozeyrn
Date: 05-16-2006, 11:25 AM (2 of 23)
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Your post made me think of my mom probably saying the same thing when I was 13-15 years old. How she didn't kill me during those couple of bad years, God alone knows. I was pretty mouthy, thought I was 9-foot tall & bulletproof back then - I'm sure I'm gonna get back in spades when my little angel gets bigger (she's 3 going on 18). God doesn't give us what we can't handle. - Maureen.
Learning something new with every stitch!! Kenmore 16231000 |
User: mozeyrn
Member since: 11-29-2005 Total posts: 349 |
From: Bama
Date: 05-16-2006, 07:10 PM (3 of 23)
I know how you feel Mary. My 17 1/2 year old has calmed down alot the past couple of years and I had almost forgotten how teens can be when low and behold my 14yo developed the I-know-everything-mom-and-dad-know-nothing attitude. 
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User: Bama
Member since: 03-21-2000 Total posts: 2116 
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From: plrlegal
Date: 05-16-2006, 08:41 PM (4 of 23)
Hey girls and guys multiply your teenager(s) by raising 14!  How my mom managed to get through 14 of us (9 girls and 5 boys) without actually murdering or at the least severly injuring one of us is beyond me. I think the difference is that my mom and dad stated the rules and you either obeyed them or you suffered the consequences (i.e., being slapped across the mouth for sassing, etc.) Had one of us ever used the threat that we would call and report our parent or parents to DHS, by the time DHS got there, they would have had a really good reason to be there and I have no doubt about that today.Patsy Patsy
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User: plrlegal
Member since: 05-19-2001 Total posts: 318 |
From: LWOrig
Date: 05-18-2006, 11:01 AM (5 of 23)
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Mary, I know exactly what you mean. I've experienced this with my twin granddaughters - soon to be 21, and my grandson who turns 16 this summer. Teenagers! YUCK!!! Thank god you can send your grandchildren home. LOLOLOLOL Linda |
User: LWOrig
Member since: 04-15-2006 Total posts: 14 
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From: Magot
Date: 05-18-2006, 04:32 PM (6 of 23)
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personally I love 'em. They challenge your paradigms and that can be no bad thing - they can also rip your heart out with thoughtlessness. We were all teens once and I don't suppose we were all saints either!
love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626 
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From: Bama
Date: 05-18-2006, 10:05 PM (7 of 23)
I can remember thinking my mother didn't have a clue. By the time I was 19 or 20, I realized she was smarter than I thought.  I learned recently that my 14yo has a strong crush on a 16yo boy.  I tell her he's too old for her and she rolls her eyes. I was dreading this day and here it is. We've always said she can't date until she's 16. Now I'm thinking maybe 18. She's getting phone calls from boys now. Dad doesn't like it already.
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User: Bama
Member since: 03-21-2000 Total posts: 2116
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From: MaryW
Date: 05-19-2006, 07:31 AM (8 of 23)
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Bama, you gotta keep the lines of communication open. Girls around here all date by 16. The loooooong phone calls will come. It's part of being a teenager. Her father will never meet a boy good enough for his daughter.
MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542
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From: blessedmommyuv3
Date: 05-19-2006, 07:50 AM (9 of 23)
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personally I love 'em. They challenge your paradigms and that can be no bad thing - they can also rip your heart out with thoughtlessness. We were all teens once and I don't suppose we were all saints either! Let me know when you next feel a need to challenge your paradigms (thanks for the new word ), and I would be happy to send you MY 14 yo dd! LOL!Mary, (((BIG HUGS))) and lots of sympathy heading your way. And Patsy, HOLY TAMOLE! 14 kids! I can't believe she made it thru with her sanity in tact! I'm already counting the years (and there are 11) before our 3 daughters are all out of their teens. Jen PS: I admit it, I wasn't an angel--but I frequently call my mom and apologize for the heartache and headaches I caused her growing up. She doesn't even remember them now. Becoming a parent really helps you see the wisdom in your parents. |
User: blessedmommyuv3
Member since: 05-18-2004 Total posts: 263 
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From: DorothyL
Date: 05-19-2006, 08:27 AM (10 of 23)
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I'm with Jan. I like teenagers. It was the middle school age that got me. After that 16 was a real relief. But expensive. And it drove my husband crazy. And the boys (I had girls). I don't know how you can stand the smelly sex-crazed things! My youngest moved her 21-year-old boyfriend in when she was a senior. Just "Craig doesn't have a place to live so he is moving in." I thought her father's head would explode! I kept waiting for hubby to start calling boyfriend Meat Head. He stuck with her through college and law school and now, nearly 9 years later they are still together. Dorothy |
User: DorothyL
Member since: 12-09-2002 Total posts: 3883 |
From: plrlegal
Date: 05-19-2006, 11:01 PM (11 of 23)
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From what I see these days, the girls are as sex-crazed as the boys. The girls seem to take off more and more clothes everyday. Here in OKC they are now wearing the skimpy skin tight body suits with the see through skirts over them. Patsy Patsy
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User: plrlegal
Member since: 05-19-2001 Total posts: 318 |
From: Magot
Date: 05-20-2006, 06:27 AM (12 of 23)
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Jen, I work at a middle school (age 9-13/14) beleive me my paradigms are well and truely slapped around! My hardest problem is that the kids seeem to think that there is no absolute truth - but that everything is negotiable. Now I've no problem with checking if why I do something is still valid, but if it is and I am in charge - then they do it! Regarding 14 year olds and dating - my parents generation were leaving school and holding down jobs at this age - 14 was the legal age of consent (only relatively recently upped to 16 ) and we expect today's kids to be different? They have the same needs and drives but hold less responsibility in society. Now I am by no means condoning early sexual activity - personally I think the longer you put off lighting a fire the less you need it. Why spark an apetite that you are not emotionally capable of controlling? The safest way I think for teens to experience the opposite sex is in a supportive group of friends who all go around together. A friend of mine is going through the "o my Lord, what do I do?" stage with her soon to be 17 year old who wants to go camping with her friends (mixed group) All those 'yeah but what if somebody gets drunk' feelings go slicing through your head - lets face it - somebody will! But if you want to maintain a relationship with your teen at this stage it is "These are my concerns, I would rather you did/didn't do x or y, and it is your choice" My friend's daughter has rightly asked the "don't you trust me?" question along with stating that she has all the same values as her Mum and Dad - the hard choices are still to come! Having said that we are teaching our year 6's (11 year olds) about puberty next week - o joy! wet dreams, periods and masturbation here I come! The class is shocked though at the news this week of the youngest teenage Mum in the UK anounced this week - she is currently 11. Where now child abuse - if the father was 11 as well?? love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626
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From: Patty22
Date: 05-20-2006, 11:46 AM (13 of 23)
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"we are teaching our year 6's (11 year olds) about puberty next week"..... Bwhahahahaha.........reminds me of DS #2........ he developed deathly diseases and had terrible symptoms whenever the subject was to be taught in school. It is amazing what the wonder drug, Tylenol, did to allow him to recover so rapidly and without seeing a doctor. Patty
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User: Patty22
Member since: 03-29-2006 Total posts: 1194 |
From: Magot
Date: 05-20-2006, 12:09 PM (14 of 23)
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believe me , I went through "sex with year 7" earlier in the year - nothing compares to that! That was when I knitted a womb, fallopian tubes and ovaries for my head of science. She made me model it though! love and kisses, Jan
Guts-R-Us Cells a Speciality DNA to order. |
User: Magot
Member since: 12-22-2002 Total posts: 3626
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From: Shellymoon
Date: 06-05-2006, 02:23 PM (15 of 23)
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Magot....I love the idea of a knitted example...tee hee. A friend of mine. Terri, is the school nurse at the middle school where DD (age 13...groan) attends. I'm sure she'd love the visual aids! She's the queen of the embroidery machine. Maybe I'll challenge her to come up with some "props" for next year's classes.
Shelly Moon
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User: Shellymoon
Member since: 05-27-2001 Total posts: 240 |
From: Sancin
Date: 06-05-2006, 06:31 PM (16 of 23)
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Patty, if you think your children get diseases when they hear about them try being a nursing instructor. You would not believe the number of doctors and nurses who develop non noticeable cancer leading to fatigue when they are in their educational program! I was the same way. Problem, I find now at my age is that some of the things that were imaginary are coming true!! Margo, I think that the reason young people have sex younger is d/t several reasons. Young people don't care that much about what other's - read adults-think as they used to. A very big deterent to many things when I was growing up (in a small town, but cities have neighbourhoods) was that people would talk and/ or I would disappoint my parents. Now the people young people worry about is their friends will talk - about how they are still virgins at the time they graduate! Teens have always thought themselves invincible. Somehow with the advent of birth control they seem to think they won't get pregnant or diseased - but they have to use the control it doesn't come through the air! They don't actually believe they will get a disease or pregnant because it is true love and precautions ruin the moment. I was dumbfounded about the virgin beliefs when my children were teens - not a great reason to have sexual relations. Though I guess males did lose their virginity for centuries by visiting certain women. Women equality hasn't led to 'men of the night' being available, yet I can see there may be some things that could be learned?! I found when my children were teens that the best way was not to sweat the small stuff. If they were rude to me, I simply pointed out that they would have trouble with getting jobs if they talked to adults that way. I tried to pinch my nose at the smells, tried not to laugh at the hair colours and styles or clothes. I had a few very strict rules - no drinking and driving and kept taxi money hidden in the house at all times, no sex without precautions and no walking down the street or being in public places with more than 2 friends and that there was no topic we couldn't discuss together. It seemed to work, tho my son took to a career where style and lifestyle is not really important. I was lucky with my children in that they were interested in many things, like sports, debate, acting, and school learning that required they travel and play in groups. Patty, 11 years old would have been too late for me to have discussions in school about puberty as I reached puberty at that age! I am interested in just what information is presented about puberty. Unfortunately many times information is presented just as that and the emotional aspect is not discussed. I have school teacher friends who tell me talking about interpersonal emotions are a mine field in school classrooms, yet usually are not discussed in homes either. *~*~*~* Nancy*~*~*~* " I try to take one day at a time - but sometimes several days attack me at once."
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User: Sancin
Member since: 02-13-2005 Total posts: 895 
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From: DorothyL
Date: 06-06-2006, 07:54 AM (17 of 23)
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Kids may seem to be interested in sex earlier now -- but I think there was just a short era when society managed to keep their minds off it longer. I think they naturally get the urge at an age much younger than we like to expect. That is why they used to marry the girls off at 14, 15 or 16. We make it such a big deal when really it is a natural function. We, especially as women, are lucky we have the opportunity to control our bodies and can put off having children until we want them. Even disease is, for the most part, preventable if you know what you are doing. I don't think kids are given the information they need to deal with sex. Thanks to federal regulations getting the money to teach sex education in this area means "abstinence only" programs. That just doesn't work. Personally I think they would save money spent supporting the children of children if they gave up the federal grants and taught kids how to avoid unwanted side effects of sex -- because they are going to do it anyway. Of course, looking at sex in a realistic and honest way can backfire on you. I raised two daughters that were taught that sex is natural -- one of the little pleasures of life. They were also taught that it is their responsibility to control -- and limit -- their breeding. And now I don't have any grand kids! Dorothy |
User: DorothyL
Member since: 12-09-2002 Total posts: 3883 |
From: Patty22
Date: 06-06-2006, 03:56 PM (18 of 23)
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Nancy...... my son developed terrible diseases when the topic of "sex" was discussed in school. My kids were always so busy with outside activities in school that "sex" wasn't really an important issue to them and they could have cared less. They were not the norm though. Too funny, but all my kids would cover their eyes or turn their heads if people kissed on TV. BWhahahahahaha...... come to think of it my husband does too Hmmmm......now I'm on the other end of the spectrum, my kids have matured to fine adults and I wouldn't mind having a grandchild in my life. (Oh, and how I would love to sew for a little munchkin.) I give idle threats of signing them onto eharmony or some other online matchmaker. I loved watching my kids grow and mature, HOWEVER, as I watched the difference in the attitudes of youngsters in the school system from my oldest to youngest (12 year difference) I saw youth in general being very disrespectful of adults and peers, and yes, girls were the worst offenders as they could be ruthless. However, I also found young people being treated with distrust because they were young. No wonder they are often cynical of adults; what goes around comes around. Patty
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User: Patty22
Member since: 03-29-2006 Total posts: 1194 |
From: MariLynntex
Date: 06-15-2006, 01:48 PM (19 of 23)
| Please don't remind me. I had seven.....God made those small babies and young children so adorable.....so that you could stand them when they turned into adolescents. I haven't figured out why He ever thought it was necessary to have an adolescent stage, unless to punish us for badly misspent former lives! I look at my darling 2-yr-old granddaughter (I should say 2 going on 22) and then at my charming DIL and shudder to think of what she, unsuspecting and unprepared, has ahead of her. My tiny granddaughter with a smile that captivates everyone and a will of steel already, also has the histrionic talent of a budding movie queen coupled with the determination of Scarlett O'Hara at her worst. I foresee a merry future for us all....she will rock the State of Texas! MariLynntx |
User: MariLynntex
Member since: 01-05-2006 Total posts: 107 |
From: Bekka
Date: 08-05-2006, 12:46 PM (20 of 23)
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Over the years I have called my mother MANY times to appoligize for ANYTHING I have EVER done to her. She always laughs and tells me I wasn't that bad at which time I point out that I am paying for my brother too. He has never married and has no kids. I have a 22S 17D 16S plus 6 steps from 15 to 30. I LOVE them all. I can't wait to have grandkids lololololol
Bekka
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User: Bekka
Member since: 07-28-2006 Total posts: 79 |
From: keljo60
Date: 08-05-2006, 10:50 PM (21 of 23)
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I have some sayings that I stand behind: "Teenagers are cruel and unusual punishment for having sex years ago." "Mothers of teenagers know why animals eat their young." "Insanity is hereditary, you get it from your kids." I have a 22D and a (almost) 16D. The 22d was difficult in that she was/is extremely headstrong and opinionated. She is intelligent and a quick thinker, so she could always "out-think" me. She has finally mellowed with age, but she can still be difficult. She had sex for the first time at 13, I found out when she was 15, but she had already "learned her lesson", and was abstaining, at least for a few years! She's quite different now in that area, but she is also an adult living alone, and still smart enough not to have kids! The 16d, is mellowing thanks to a much older bf (he's 24, yeah, I know). She had a very difficult past year (arrest & probation & failing 9th grade for the 2nd time), and he has been a TREMENDOUS help. He has helped her to mature and face her issues for herself. Our relationship has improved a lot also, and I'm pretty sure he had something to do with that. He helped her actually pass a couple of classes, and learn to handle her temper/anger issues when no one else could reach her. We moved about 4 hours away from where we lived a couple of months ago and he came with us. Because he has been so good for her (and to her) and he seems to fit in with the family very well, even though we have some reservations, we are taking this relationship "one day at a time". They talk about having a future together, but they haven't talked about marriage (not that I've heard!) or having kids. Sheesh, she's acting more mature than her 22yo sister! Kelly
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup! |
User: keljo60
Member since: 07-30-2006 Total posts: 154 
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From: MaryW
Date: 08-06-2006, 08:37 AM (22 of 23)
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Hi Kelly. Everyone has to do what they think is right for their family. Lots of times I have done outrageous things to keep my kids on the straight and narrow. Sometimes it even worked!
MaryW
owner/editor of Sew Whats New |
User: MaryW
Member since: 06-23-2005 Total posts: 2542
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From: DorothyL
Date: 08-06-2006, 09:11 AM (23 of 23)
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Kelly- When she was 17 my youngest daughter brought her 21-year-old boyfriend home and moved him in! He didn't have anywhere else to stay. I wasn't happy with the age difference -- at all. But she was a smart kid and I had to trust her judgment. We took a deep breath, told him he had to get some kind of job and waited for what would come next. What came next was college, law school and a good job for her. He took care of his ailing grandparents until they died and is thinking about going into teaching now. They are still together. Oh yeah, My other daughter, 33, just married a guy who is 21-years-old. I bet his parents aren't too happy either!! Dorothy |
User: DorothyL
Member since: 12-09-2002 Total posts: 3883 |
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