Trouble With Teens - The Parent/Teenager Communication Curse
Posted: Sunday, July 20, 2008
by Mark Parsec
Wordcasters
What an amazing God we have that He should be so thoughtful as to bless us with the privilege of parenting over teens. Oh, I know what some of you are thinking. Teenagers can seem more like a curse than a blessing. This may seem especially true when you have a step-child or two. For some reason they seem to get it in their head that YOU are the enemy and they are going to do everything in their power to make your life miserable. If you survive.
Like I said... it may SEEM that way. But, the truth of the matter is that teenagers are just doing what teenagers have always done. They're being teenagers! They're testing boundaries, challenging authority, discovering their own innate abilities and limitations. In short, they are growing up.
Ah, yes! Remember that? Growing up. What an intensely awkward time of life. You know, puberty, raging hormones, a brain that is assimilating new information at lightning speed and comprehending parental instructions at a snail's pace.
What is it about teenagers, anyway? Don't they have any respect for adults? Or is it just their own parents they can't stand? After all, when WE were teenagers we didn't act like THAT! Did we? Well, they do say that the memory is the first thing to go.
During the difficult times with our teenagers I hear this Twilight Zone kinda echo in my mind that says, "What goes around comes around" and "Just wait until you have teenagers of your own! You'll see! You'll see! Ha ha ha, hahaha!" Somebody slap me!
That's the catch isn't it? Every parent gets an opportunity to experience the teen thing, all over again. But, somehow, somewhere along the road of life we seem to forget what it was like back then. You know, dealing with all those emotions. Wanting to laugh and cry and mate all at the same time, and not knowing why. Wanting to be respected but not responsible. Wanting to have money but not a job. Wanting to stay out late and sleep in every day. Whoosh... I get dizzy just thinking about it. No wonder we forget such things.
And then there are the behavioral problems. "How many times do I have to tell you... blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. For some reason Charlie Brown's teacher comes to mind. Is that what we sound like? Do you remember your parents talking to you when you were a teenager? Back when I was a teenager I was certain that my parents never really had anything good to say. But, now that I'm older... boy did they ever make a lot of sense. I just wish I could remember more of what they said. Hmmm... what's up with that?
Come to think of it, it's almost as if there is a communication curse between parents and their teenagers. They don't understand us. We don't understand them. What is that rap crap anyway? Change the music! Remember our parents telling us to turn our music off? But, there wasn't anything wrong with rock-n-roll. Have you tried to listen to some of the songs that "turned us on" back in the 60's and 70's? And who was that freak, Tiny Tim... tiptoeing through the tulips? Yuck!
Talk about freaks. I suppose we were pretty weird teenagers back in our days with our long hair and faded bell bottoms, with patches and holes in them. But, at least they didn't fall half way down to our feet with our trunks hanging out. No way! Our clothes were so tight it didn't make any difference! And who wore bras or underwear back then? Let it all hang out. It was cool, groovy, far out, and outa sight! Can you dig it?
Oops, sorry... I think I was having a flashback. Maybe I took too much weed, acid or cocaine back in those days. Now, where was I? Oh, yeah. Teenagers these days, what's their problem?
© 2008 Mark Parsec
This Article has been viewed 1,065 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)very good article. and yes What goes around does come around.Thanks Roschelle. By the way, I really appreciated and enjoyed your comments to the recent article on Obama And The New Yorker Satire. I was too frustrated with the author of that article to comment at the time. I had to cool down. I was happy to see that you could handle it so eloquently. Blessings to you.
Yes Mark, teenagers are doing just what teenagers do. I remember my mother used to laugh and tell me, "Wait until you have kids of your own." I never understood that one until I was a mom. Don't forget, that each child has their own personality. Do you recall the difference between the twins and the 16 year old? You were the enemy to all of them at one point. Don't fret, I have been too. We only have one year left until the youngest gets to try life on his own. So he says, but we shall see. God bless you.
Great article, Mark. I think my three-year-old grandson is already going through that phase! I know my 14 year-old granddaughter is. And heaven help us all!SandraI emphathize with you. Thank you for your comments, Sandra.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.