Raising Teenagers Is Hard

Turns out, raising kids...especially teenagers...is really hard! (And we've got really great kids!) We ran into our first big teenage "issue" this past week, (which resulted in 2 weeks of phone grounding) and let me just tell you--it wasn't fun. I came across this article, and it is spot-on. I hope when our kids are grown and raising kids on their own, that they look back at things like this that I post, and realize how very much I love them and only want the best for them. 

God, help us through this season! Draw our kids close!

It's not the eye rolls or heavy sighs. Or even the annoyed grunts.

That's not the hardest part of parenting teenagers.

Sure, we laugh about it. We joke about messy rooms and empty pantries and missing phone chargers and horrible attitudes.

Then sometimes people jump in with advice about consequences or make comments about "kids these days." 

But it turns out, no one's talking about the REAL stuff. The hardest stuff.

And that's that my teenager is grown up enough to be living a REAL life. And for the most part, I can't control any of it.

Friend relationships and unfair coaches and unreasonable teachers (or reasonable teachers and pretty poor grades) and romantic endeavors and all the other drivers on the road at 11:25 pm five minutes before curfew. Plus, the snow! A little ice on the road has never been so terrifying!

Not to mention ACT tests and college applications and real, grown-up adult life right around the corner.

Sometimes I wish we could serve up a snack and turn on Wild Krats.

But it wouldn't help.

Really, there's almost nothing I can do. Except stand there. And BE there. Loving as hard as I can...from there. Hands entirely off the wheel.

I always thought the attitudes would be the hardest part.

But that's not it at all.

It's the LIFE part. My teenager is living a whole entire life.

And it's everything I've ever wanted for her!!

But standing beside her while she lives it out is the hardest thing I've ever had to never really do.