Mom of Teens: Out of the mouths of teens

Do you remember when your kids were little and they mimicked you? Everything you said eventually would also come out of their mouths.

It made you careful about what you said around them. I really got tired of my girls saying “now listen here” to me. So I had to stop saying it to them. What about when you told them something wasn't nice or good to do? And then you did it and they pointed it out to you. Not that it ever happened to me. Ahem. I really thought we were past all that now that they are teenagers. I thought wrong.

My oldest was with me in the kitchen. I was busy worrying about something and was talking about it. I'll admit, worrying is one area in my life I need to work on. And apparently my daughter agrees with me! But I digress. So we are in the kitchen and I'm lamenting over this thing. Suddenly my 15-year-old bursts into song, in the middle of my sentence. Yes, she did. Her song of choice? "Jesus Take The Wheel."

When she was done with her little snippet of the song I asked her why in the world she was singing that song to me. She looked me dead in the eyes and said, “Well, you always tell us not to worry, so I'm helping you not worry.”

There's no rebuttal for that. You laugh out loud and say “Well thank you pumpkin.” And then you stop worrying. After all, as I've told her one hundred times or more, worrying doesn't fix a thing. Now I got to take my own advice out of the mouth of my teen!

While I don't love being reminded of my flaws, I do love that she is actually taking my lessons to heart. And I love that she feels comfortable enough to remind me of what I remind her about all the time. I think it deepens our relationship. And it makes for good laughs. Good laughs equal good memories, which I look back on when we're at odds with each other.

You have to love your teens. They make sure your life is never boring! They also show you they love you in the most amazing ways, even when they give you back your own advice.