Teenagers | Paddock Post

20

Dec

A Lunch Conversation With My Teenage Daughter

My daughter and I went out to lunch recently. After we settled in at the table, I could tell something was bothering her so I asked what was on her mind. She told me about a friend whose mother told her daughter to stop hanging around with my daughter because my daughter would be a bad influence. Read more

8

Dec

The Impasse at Home

For the past week, my husband has been playing Mr. Mom taking care of our daughter (and animals) while I spent some time in Florida getting acclimated to the humidity and preparing to run a half marathon. Last night, my husband called and there was silence at the other end of the phone. The conversation went like this: Read more

30

Nov

The Changing Role of Motherhood: Life With a Teenage Daughter

My 15-year old daughter recently asked me if I missed the old days when she was little and although my brain was screaming “YES, YES, YES, ” I calmly admitted to sometimes missing those days we spent together running errands, seeing Disney on Ice, having lunch together, and reading a book before bedtime (6:30 pm back then). Right now I would go so far as to admit that I would welcome seeing “Barney’s Big Adventure” again (and I’ve seen it at least four times and each time was more painful than the previous). Read more

3

Sep

Summer Lessons

My daughter had her first job this summer working five days a week from 9:30 – 5:00 at a museum. At first, she was excited about the prospect of working and earning money but the honeymoon was over by the second week when she realized there weren’t many young people at the museum. In fact, she came home one day and sadly told me that the people she worked with were so old that their kid’s kids had kids – meaning many of her co-workers were great-grandparents. Read more

24

Aug

Hand Me Ups and Fashion Advice

It’s that time of year again – mid-August – when we all start to think about upcoming school schedules, immunization records, dental appointments, forms to be completed and school clothes. All summer long my daughter has been wearing (much to her dismay) khaki shorts and white tops – the required uniform for her job – and telling me the only way she can express herself fashion-wise is through her choice of shoes which run the gamut from cowboy rain boots to sneakers to flip-flops. Read more

31

Jul

Technology Turn-Off

Nearly ten years ago, my husband and I turned off our cell phones and moved to Madrid, Spain. Cell phones weren’t in the hands of every man, woman, and child so we didn’t really think we were disconnecting from life. After all, we would still have a land line. We opted not to have cell phones in Spain primarily because we didn’t feel the need and we wanted to live in the moment with our young daughter. She was beginning first grade and we took her to school, picked her up, and if she went anywhere, we were always with her so there really was no need for a cell phone. Read more