We’ve been talking with our teens about the recent incident that happened when a 15-year-old girl posted a complaint about her parent’s on Facebook and her dad’s reaction. Her complaints were standard teen angst – since time immemorial teens have rebelled and complained about chores and how awful life is with their parents. That’s what they do. We should expect them to, otherwise, we should assume they don’t have enough chores and it’s too easy for them at home and they may never want to leave.
The reaction of the 15-year-old girl’s dad is being hailed by some as having done the right thing. Yes, as parents of teenagers, we may feel like strangling or throttling necks or perhaps the occasional fore-head flick, but that doesn’t mean we should. As adults, we should think before we say and do things. The ability to see how things may turn out, maintain our composure, and not act like 12-year-olds ourselves is what sets us apart from our not yet mature, ever evolving teenagers. If nothing else, parents should not act like teens themselves and out of anger and frustration, film rants to post them on YouTube. As parents of teens, we may all feel like doing this, but we’re the adults and should behave as such.
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It’s a mystery to me why I’m not sleeping very well these days. I’m too hot at night so we left our down comforter in its storage bag this winter and didn’t even put it on our bed. Our upstairs, where all of our bedrooms are located, is already very cold because we don’t heat {Read more about How to Mend Pillow Cases}
Several readers have asked me to post our meal plan each week. I’ve decided to try to do this on Saturdays. The recipes from these meals will eventually find their way to Go Gingham. My cooking is free form style and I just make things up as I go along.
Now that we’ve completed the “14 Days of Things I Love” series, there are a few items that I really like but, for a variety of reasons (as you’ll see below), didn’t quite make the list.
I love Valentine’s Day. Yes, it’s gotten too commercial but what holiday hasn’t? Valentine’s Day is special because it makes me stop and take a day to say, “Hey, I’m not taking you for granted.” Or, “How about we have a lunchtime date today?“ It also gives me an excuse to wrangle an extra hug {Read more about Love of Valentine’s Day}
The library is a love of mine because it’s our major source of entertainment. I love everything about it! I love the reserve system. I love that I can save my searches and then go back to them later. I love how I can sign up for e-mail alerts for items I’ve searched for in {Read more about Love the Library}
Happy Birthday, Mr. Lincoln, we sure do love you. Around here we celebrate Lincoln’s birthday with a cake or special cookies. And for some strange reason the kids have created the February 12th tradition of my husband (who is absolutely NOT a dunker) having to dunk a cookie in milk. Whether you know only the {Read more about Abraham Lincoln Love}
Along with my chair obsession, I also have a thing for pens. For a lot of women it’s shoes and for men maybe it’s power tools but for some strange reason for me it’s pens. Yes, I love pens, too. My favorite is Mr. Sharpie – fine tip, fat tip, medium tip – it doesn’t {Read more about I Love Pens, Too}
I love hula hooping. I always have. Back in the ‘70s, I was a hooping fool. Hula hoops could be found going around on my neck, arms, stomach, and ankles. Sometimes several of those spots had hula hoops going simultaneously. Fast forward to present day (ok, more like 5 or so years ago), my friend, {Read more about Hooping Fool Love}
I love keeping chickens in our backyard. The fresh eggs they provide, eating our kitchen scraps, and giving us great material for our compost bins can’t be beat. Chickens are very funny creatures and can be quite amusing. During the summer, we like to sit in the backyard and watch our chickens. If you were {Read more about Fall in Love with Backyard Chickens}
Looking for a date idea for Valentine’s Day? Have a lunchtime date with your sweetie. Go ahead and schedule it right now. I’ll wait…you won’t be sorry. It seems extra extravagant when having a daytime date. And, when kids are in school, the parents should have a little fun, shouldn’t they? Dining at lunch, especially {Read more about Love the Lunchtime Date}
The winner of the Valentine’s Day giveaway is: KristenM with the lucky comment number 48. Thank you to everyone who participated and thanks to Pro Flowers for sponsoring the giveaway!
I love to travel and see the world but travel can be an expensive indulgence. Eating out, hotels, and rental cars can all really add up. Now, the first thing we do when the travel bug hits is start searching our favorite home exchange service website. It wasn’t always like this. Years ago, I worked {Read more about Home Exchange Love}