Parenting Teens

Continuing with my focus on dads, I’d like to share the following quotes with readers. They come from many different sources (authors, actors, generals, etc.); some are serious, some humorous. But they all have something great to say about fathers! For more great quotes, you can visit Don’t Quote Me.

*Confucius (551-479 BC), (K’ung Fu-tse) Chinese philosopher
“The father who does not teach his son his duties is equally guilty with the son who neglects them.”

*Bill Cosby (1937-) U.S. comedian and actor
“If the new American father feels bewildered and even defeated, let him take comfort from the fact that whatever he does in any fathering situation has a fifty percent chance of being right.”

*Sheldon Glueck (1896-1980) U.S. (Polish born) professor and criminologist
“The most effective guard against delinquency is a father who is at the same time both strict and loving.”

*Billy Graham (1918-) U.S. evangelist
“A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society.”

*Kent Nerburn U.S. educator and author
“It is much easier to become a father than to be one.”

*William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English playwright and poet
“It is a wise father that knows his own child.”

*Mark Twain (1835-1910), (Samuel Clemens) U.S. author
“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.”

*Alice Walker (1944-) U.S. author
“It no longer bothers me that I may be constantly searching for father figures; by this time, I have found several and dearly enjoyed knowing them all.”

*Red Buttons (1919-2006), (Aaron Chwatt) U.S. actor
“Never raise your hands to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected.”

*Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964) U.S. statesman and military leader
“By profession I am a soldier and take great pride in that fact, but I am also prouder, infinitely prouder, to be a father. A soldier destroys in order to build; the father only builds, never destroys.”

[/tags]dads, fathers, quotes, dad quotes, father quotes, Confucious, Bill Cosby, Sheldon Gleuck, Billy Graham, Kent Nerbern, William Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Alice Walker, Red Buttons, Douglas MacArthur, parenting teens, parenting teenagers[/tags]

Blogging isn’t all about moms, or just parenting in general. There are some really good blogs out there written by and for dads. Here’s a sampling of some of the ones I’ve found.

*Divorced Dads Matter-Divorced Dads Matter is a site started by a typical father who was, and is still, constantly amazed at the prevailing social view of father’s as secondary parents and the court systems approval of this attitude. Divorced Dads Matter seeks to offer support, information, and a voice for good fathers that simply want to love and be a meaningful part of their children’s lives.

*DaddyBlogger-Advocating Shared Parenting and Step-Parents

*Daddy Zine-
One-time boy wonder turned father figure, the publisher of Daddyzine came up from the mean streets of Normal, Illinois.
Days he raises his daughter, nights he traffics in 18th & 19th century first editions and manuscript material. Given this conflation of roles, he writes rather in the spirit of Hannah More and shall attempt herein to express his ideas in terms adapted to the meanest understanding.

*Freaked-Out Fathers-Welcome to a place where you can kick back and chuckle. That’s pretty much my intention for this blog. I’m a Dad, my best buds are Dads, I often coach parents (some of whom are … Dads!) - so I know that occasionally you Dads need:

* info about fathering that helps you do it more intentionally and effectively,
* conversation with other blokes about the trials, frustrations and challenges of being a Family Guy,
* and a damn good laugh!

*Cubicle Dad-
I’m busy just trying to balance my family, work, my plans to stage a coup in a Third World Country, dealing with my mental health…and trying to get out of this damned cubicle some.

This is just a sampling! Visit these guys blogrolls for even more great blogs on fathers!

dads, fathers, fathering, blogs, blogging, parenting, parenting blogs, parenting teens, parenting teenagers

“One night a father overheard his son pray:
Dear God, Make me the kind of man my Daddy is.
Later that night, the Father prayed,
Dear God, Make me the kind of man my son wants me to be.�
Author Unknown

When you write a parenting blog as a woman (especially as a woman who was a single parent for several years), it can be easy to come across as being from a mom’s point of view most of the time. I’ve had several people tell me that’s true of my blog. So, with Father’s Day coming up on June 17th, I wanted to try and make up for some of that by focusing mainly on fathers during the upcoming two weeks.

One website that I’ve come across that I really like is My Hero. One of the site’s features is titled Family Hero: Father Figures. It talks about some famous father figures and what they do to help children. In addition, it has statements and essays from children and teens talking about their own fathers or father figures. Probably my favorite feature about this site, though, is that it provides a chance to participate. Anyone can create a web page about their heroes-be it fathers, father figures, or anyone else a person chooses.

Share this site with your teens, as well as your younger children. It gives them a chance to pay tribute to the father, or father figure, in their lives!

father, fathers, Father’s Day, dad, dads, father figures, parenting teens, parenting teenagers

Char over at Weary Parent has been nominated for a Grasshopper New Media Parents Hot Stuff of the Week award!

She received the much-deserved nomination for her post 13 Things We Need to Teach Our Teens, written back on April 19, just after the tragedy at Virginia Tech. Here’s an excerpt from her post:

1. You can’t always be first
2. You can’t always win
3. Not everything in life will be easy
4. How to deal with bullies, mean people and rude people
5. How to cope with the end of a relationship or break up
6. How to resolve a dispute with a teacher, boss or other superior
7. We all make mistakes and can learn from them
8. How to ask for help
9. Signs that a friend or loved one may be suffering (from an addiction, depression, etal)
10. How to make decisions by weighing pros and cons
11. Not all gratification can be instant - some things are worth the wait
12. Everyone has something to contribute to society - it just might take a little exploration
13. How to be a good friend

Make sure you go and read her entire post. She’s a great parent blogger! Also, make sure you go and vote for her! You can vote at: Hot Stuff: Vote For Your Favorites. Char’s one of the best!

Grasshopper New Media, blog awards, Weary Parent, parenting teens and ‘tweens, Virginia Tech, teen values, teenagers’ values, parenting teens, parenting teenagers

Graduation time is upon us all-students, parents, families, and friends! Need some ideas for what to get the teenager in your life for his/her graduation? Here’s a few suggestions for affordable, and useable, gifts:

*CD’s-in this case, music CD’s! They’re affordable and, if you know the graduate’s
favorite types of music and favorite artists, this one’s easy!

*Books-but books that the graduate will actually like to read! Those books of
verses for graduates are beautiful little gifts, but many graduates don’t even read them. They’re
impersonal. Choose a book from a genre or series that you know the graduate enjoys. Or a nice
bookstore gift card!

*DVD’s-another good, affordable gift-again, if you know the graduate’s favorite
movies or genres. Actually, these first three are good, all-purpose gifts for just about any
occasion, as long as you know what the recipient likes!

*Gift cards-Speaking of gift cards, they make nice, useful gifts no matter where
they’re from! Restaurant gift cards are great, since most teens list eating as a favorite hobby!
Gas gift cards are great right now, with the price of gas going up daily. If the teen will be going
off to college soon, gift cards to stores such as Wal-Mart or Bed, Bath & Beyond can be really
helpful, allowing them to buy (or at least defray the cost of) some of the things they will need.

*Money-Apparently, Miss Manners frowns on giving cold, hard cash, but I’m not
with her on this one. Money is something everyone can use, especially graduates who are either
headed for college, or will be looking for a job! If you’re worried about the amount you can afford
to give, don’t! Anything from $5 on up can be helpful. Or get a group of relatives and friends
together to each contribute what they can afford. Then, give the entire amount with a single
card signed by everyone. The graduate will be happy! Trust me!

If you’re a parent or family member who wants to give a more substantial gift, consider a certificate of deposit or savings bond. These are gifts which can be saved, or spent if an emergency arises.

Remember that, whatever you give, graduation from high school comes once in a lifetime! Make sure that one of the things you do is let the graduate know how happy and proud you are!

graduation, high school graduation, Wal-Mart, Bed, Bath & Beyond, gifts, gift cards, graduation gifts, school, teens, teenagers, parenting teens, parenting teenagers

Dear Abby is teaming with the Federal Citizens Information Center to provide a Health Information Packet celebrating National Women’s Health Week, May 13-19. The kit consists of publications usually offered separately by the FCIC, but are being offered in a packet for the first time. The kit contains publications on the following conditions and topics:

*Allergies
*Asthma
*Cholesterol
*Depression
*Diabetes
*Food Safety
*Heart Disease
*High Blood Pressure
*Listeria
*Mammography
*Sleep Disorders
*Smoking
*Strokes
*Sunscreens
*West Nile Virus

The kit is free, and is available for order at the above link, or by calling 1-888-878-3256. This is great information for all women (including moms!) and some of it could be useful for teen daughters as well! Order yours today!

Everyone else writes their Mother’s Day posts before Mother’s Day! I, on the other hand, like waiting until after Mother’s Day. I like hearing how other moms and their families celebrated!

At my house, we went to the 8:30 am service at our church, where flowers were given to the youngest mother, the oldest mother, and the mother with the most children. I happened to be the youngest mother present! (Of course, there usually isn’t a huge turnout for the early service, so that helped!).

Then, we went home, where my daughter was presented with her Mother’s Day gifts-a card, flowers, and a new CD (all from her cat, Squirt!). After which, I was banned from the kitchen for two hours. (Any day I’m banned from the kitchen is a celebration for me!). I came back to the kitchen to find a luscious(!) chocolate cheesecake, topped with strawberries-along with my Mother’s Day gifts from my daughter and my fiancee-some die-cast Star Wars ships, a die-cast model of a 1963 Volkswagen Beetle (I’m crazy about those little cars), and a book on the history of the Beetle.

After all these goodies, we took a cake to my fiancee’s mother. We sat around their table eating cake and talking for a couple of hours. Then, back home, where my treat at dinner was homemade pizza and a newly rented movie. All in all a great day, despite the fact that I had an earache and a slightly sore throat. Why am I always sick at holidays?!

The only bad part of the day was missing my own mother, who passed away almost four years ago now. Mother’s Day and her birthday are always the worst days. My brother, sister, and I always get together and put flowers at the cemetery. It’s a wonderful way to memorialize, but it’s so much better when they’re actually here!

Anyway, how did you spend your Mother’s Day? You can discuss it here or over at Cafe Mom where there’s always a lot of good discussion on mothering!

Mother’s Day, mom, moms, mother, mothers, Star Wars, Volkswagen, Volkswagen Beetle, parenting teens, parenting teenagers

It’s almost that time. Time for the school year to end. Another school year, another year of your teen’s life at home gone by. Many teens will be graduating high school, and moving on to college or work-maybe both.

How much quality time have you spent with your teen lately? Have you spent any time doing something fun with your teenager? This is a subject I like to which I like to return periodically, because it can be so easy to let that time slip away. To take it for granted.

One of my daughter’s best friends is graduating high school this year, and will be leaving for college the first of September. She’ll be working over the summer, but her mom (who happens to be my best friend!) is making a few plans for them to do things together-things that will fit into everyone’s work schedule and be fun for them, too. It isn’t easy.

But, hey, doing things together doesn’t have to mean a lot of time at once, or even a lot of expense. Go to a nice restaurant and have a lunch special a few times while you talk! Go to a movie you’ll both enjoy-a matinee; they’re cheaper! Go visit some relatives you haven’t seen in a while.

Time with your teenager doesn’t have to be forced, or something that you both dread. It can be a fun and relaxing experience for both of you, if you find something you both can enjoy doing. And time is very precious.

Virginia Tech will be having it’s graduation soon, following the mass shootings of April 16. It’s students, faculty, and families are preparing for graduation, while still mourning the loss fellow classmates and teachers. It is a reminder to all of us that time spent with loved ones can be cut short. Use it wisely.

tags]teens, teenagers, graduation, school, time with teens, Virginia Tech, Virginia Tech graduation[/tags]

I’ve found a great site that’s entertaining for both parents and teenagers! It’s called Hollywood Teen Movies and it’s a treasure-trove of information on movies for and about teenagers.

Whether you were a teenager in the 1950’s or are a teen now, if you’re a movie lover, this site is for you!
It covers teen movies of every decade from the ’50’s to the present. It also divides teen movies into different categories, like musicals, action/adventure, slasher flicks, etc. There are movie reviews of every teen movie you can think of, from Elvis’ first film in the ’50’s to now!

There are pages of information on teen idols and teen queens. Again, from the 1950’s (Elvis, James Dean) to the 2000’s (Leonardo DiCaprio, Heath Ledger). There’s info on directors of teen movies like John Hughes. There are quizzes, and a section about teen movies which have had Oscar nominations (Rebel Without a Cause, 1955, Best Actress Nominee-Natalie Wood; American Grafitti, 1973, Best Picture Nominee).

Being a movie buff, this has quickly become a favorite site of mine! I’ve bookmarked it and, if you’re into movies (whether you’re a parent or a teen), so should you! It’s a great place for a parent and teen to compare the favorite movies of their decade!

movies, teen movies, Leonardo DiCaprio, Heath Ledger, Natalie Wood, James Dean, Elvis Presley, Rebel Without a Cause, American Grafitti, John Hughes, Hollywood Teen Movies, parenting teens, parenting teenagers

As President Bush and Congress butt heads over the war in Iraq, and whether or not we will pull out our troops, I felt it appropriate to write a post about the casualties in Iraq. There have, to date, been over 3000 American casualties in Iraq. For the record, I do not agree with this war. I want our troops brought home. But that does not mean I do not appreciate their courage in serving their country.

What you don’t seem to see in newscasts is any breakdown of casualties by age. According to the website Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, 237 of those Coalition casualties have been under the age of 20. That’s right- 18 and 19 years old. (I checked quite a few sites for casualty breakdowns, and this site was the one that seemed to break down the numbers best and have the clearest information. If anyone knows of a better site, or has information regarding inaccuracies on this site, please feel free to let me know.)
And, obviously, it is very difficult to find any information on how many Iraqi teenagers have been killed.

For the first time, rather than just reading a casualty count, I actually sat down and thought about the families who are losing teenagers in this war. Oh, I know that, at 18 and 19, they’re considered adults by the military, but how many of us ever really think about our own children as adults! These thoughts are now sticking with me.

I think about my own 16-year-old daughter, and the fact that she could (however unlikely it is at this point), choose to go into the military, and lose her life in war. The mere thought is devastating. My heart goes out to everyone who has lost loved ones in Iraq, but especially to those parents who have lost children who are, at most, only three years older than my daughter.

It can be easy for those of us who are raising teenagers to become mired down in day-to-day life and activities, and forget those who have it tougher. Every day, I drive my daughter to school and back home. I take her to activities like band practice and academic team competitions. We talk about homework, grades, colleges, and prom. For me, that’s everyday life with a teenager. I do not tend to think much about those whose teenagers are thousands of miles away, serving their country and in danger of living their lives. I apologize for that. As a parent, I should think of these things. After all, it could happen to me.

So, while most of deal with day-to-day life with our teenagers, we should remember those parents who are not so fortunate-those who do not have their teens at home. They would probably love to hear about college and grades, and even love to nag their teen again about picking up clothes and cleaning their rooms.

For those of you who have teenagers serving in the military, I am honored that they are serving us. For those of you who have lost teenagers in war, I am humbled by their sacrifice, and by yours. I don’t have to agree with this war to be touched by your losses.

Iraq, War in Iraq, teens in Iraq, teenagers in Iraq, teens in the military, teen military service, teen casualties, Iraq casualties, President Bush, Iraq Coalition, Iraq Coalition Casualty Count

When I first started writing for 451 Press in October, 2006, I was intrigued by the title of another blog in the network. It’s called Long Relationships. It’s actually about long romantic relationships, and RA does a great job of blogging about the ups and downs, ins and outs of day to day life in a relationship. Check it out! There’s some great stuff over there and, after all, couldn’t we all use all the help we can get in that area?!

When I first saw the title, though (given that I was blogging about parenting), I thought of all the different types of long relationships a person has throughout their life-relationships with pets, friends, parents and children. After all, when you think about it, isn’t the longest relationship of your life with your parents? They’re there from the time you’re born! It may not always be a good relationship. These relationships have their ups and downs just like any other and, if we’re all honest with ourselves, we all know about the downs!

Then, as parents ourselves, there are our relationships with our own children. These, too, are very long relationships, seeing as how they begin with the births of our children and end (hopefully) when we die. Good relationships with our children don’t just happen. They are built, nurtured and worked on-just as are good long-term romantic relationships. I think, sometimes, parents forget this. Our children are separate, unique personalities. We have to get to know them, the same way we get to know a romantic partner-by talking, doing things together, sharing life experiences, etc.

Getting to know your kids, especially teenagers, can be a very unique and rewarding experience. My own daughter is 16 years old. The more time goes by, the more I grow to appreciate her as a person. She has a unique sense of style, talents I wouldn’t have dreamed of (since some of them are talents I’ve never had), and her own opinions on things like politics, social issues, etc. She’s not just a younger version of me, and, though she obeys me (for the most part!), she doesn’t always do it unquestioningly. I’ve learned to listen to her reasons for questioning me, and for disobeying me.

Working to build this relationship is sometimes different for both of us. Though there are things we have in common, there are also things we most definitely don’t have in common, so we’ve learned to have our time apart, but we’ve also learned that, sometimes, we have to endure some things just because the other enjoys it. My daughter, for example, (like lots of other teenage girls) loves to spend hours shopping at the mall. I can spend an hour or so there, but after two hours, I start to grit my teeth at the thought of going into yet another clothing store! But I do it at times, just because she loves it and watching her shop can be quite an experience!

There is music we both like (Daughtry, John Mayer, Aerosmith, and The Beatles, e.g.), and then music that one of listens to, but the other would rather hang their head out the window of the car than hear! There’s TV we both like (The Gilmore Girls, American Idol, e.g.), and then TV that makes one of us prefer to do housework while the other watches.

At this point, we both have a fairly good idea of each other’s likes and dislikes. We also have a pretty good record of listening to, and respecting, each other’s opinions. It’s a good relationship, overall, and my life is much fuller because of it. Even when there are bad times, I’m very glad that it’s here.

How’s your long relationship with your teenager? Spend some time this weekend evaluating it and trying to make it better. It will be one of the longest relationships of your life. Make it a good one.

parenting teens, parenting teenagers, relationships, long relationships, Daughtry, John Mayer, Aerosmith, The Beatles, The Gilmore Girls, American Idol

Early this morning, I sat down to clean out the Inbox on the email account that I use most often. Like everyone else, I have the best of intentions. I mean to clean out that box every two days, or when I get a certain number of items in it-whatever standard I set. Then, I get sidetracked with something else and the junk emails and the emails I saved because I planned to reread them pile up. Hundreds, sometimes thousands. This morning, when I was cleaning out that Inbox, I reminded myself that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Now, what, you may be asking in complete confusion, does all this have to do with parenting teenagers!? Good question. For some reason, doing this reminded me of all the things (both big and little) that I mean to do with my daughter, or to talk about with my daughter. I started thinking about those things like a gigantic Inbox, with all of them piling up and not being cleaned out. That got me thinking about the fact that my daughter will be going away to college in a couple of years and I’ll have a lot less time with her-a lot less time to tell her things I want her to know, and a lot less time to spend doing things with her.

Have you parents of teens out there thought about this kind of thing? When your child is young, it seems as though you have forever to do things with them, to take them places, to tell them about things. Other things-like jobs, housework, etc.-get in the way and you put off doing these things. What kinds of things, you ask.

Well, in my case, it’s a lot of little things. I’ve been meaning for the two of us to go and have a manicure and pedicure together. Silly, right? But both of us enjoy these things and I’d like, just once, for it to be a shared experience. I’d like to take at least a weekend (preferably a week) trip together. Just drive to a larger city (maybe Atlanta, since we live in Georgia) and just hang out together. Do things like go to museums, go to the zoo, shopping-anything we’d both have a good time doing. Or, conversely, maybe just drive through the countryside looking at old houses and stopping at antique shops, since we both like those. At any rate, just a length of good, quality mother-daughter time without anything else getting in the way.

As far as the talks, there are lots of things I’d like to tell her about her grandparents, great-grandparents and other family members. Family has always been very important to me. My daughter knows this and has, for the most part, inherited that importance of family from me. But I still find myself thinking of things that I mean to tell her about family members and then forgetting. I’d like to have deeper, more meaningful talks with her about what, at this point, she sees her life being like.

I’ve had talks with my older sister where we mentioned questions that we would have liked to ask our mother before she passed away, or things we wish she had told us. I know my mom had the best of intentions for things like this too but, just as it does with us, other things get in the way and time just seems to slip away.

Anyway, I’ve resolved this morning that I’m going to do something about all this. I’m going to make a list of things that I’d like to do with my daughter. When I think of some little thing related to family that I’d like to tell her about, I’m going to write it down, rather than relying on my memory. And I’m going to make time, at least once a week, to either do something extra with her, or to just sit down and talk with her.

In the past, I’ve visited a website called 43 Things. You can create an account there and make a list of things you want to accomplish in your life. It’s a neat little site where they give you tips on getting started making your list (if you’re having trouble coming up with ideas) and where you can compare your lists with those of others. I’ve decided it’s also a good place to make a list of things I’d like to do with my daughter. Check it out and start your own list. Point your teen to it as well and urge them to begin making a list and setting goals for themselves.

If you’d rather not do it online, do it on paper. Think about all those things you’ve wanted to do with your children and make some time to actually do them. They grow up so fast.

teens, teenagers, email, goals, plans, parents, parenting, parenting teenagers

Yesterday was my father’s 78th birthday. While my brother and sister were both there for it, I won’t get to see my dad for another couple of weeks. So I decided to make today’s post about my dad. In keeping with the fact that this blog is about parenting teens, I’m going to talk about some memories of my dad from my teen years.

When I was 15, my dad took me to get my learner’s permit. It took the patience of a saint to teach me to drive. My dad didn’t have the patience of a saint! (How many of us do?) However, he did have the experience of having taught my older sister to drive just six years earlier. I remember all those times when I know he wanted to swear at me. And I can remember a few times when he actually did! Despite the rough spots, learning to drive from my dad is a pleasant memory. At the time I was learning, he owned a 1972 Plymouth Satellite. If you want any more information on that check out William’s blog over at Automotive Blogger. He does some great stuff on cars! I’d love to have some of you comment about what kind of car you learned to drive in, and your memories of learning to drive.

Once I learned how to drive, however, I had it made. My father was an auto mechanic for most of his working life. My father not only helped me pick out my first car (which was a 1974 Chevrolet Vega GT, yes, one of those rustbuckets!), he was always on hand to change my oil and fix the car when anything happened. Some of my fondest memories are of helping my father fix the car. He got to pass along some of his expertise and I actually learned a few mechanical things!

My dad and I have both always had strong political opinions. When I was a teenager, I began to be a lot less shy about voicing my opinions. My dad and I usually disagreed. I can remember some very interesting debates that stopped just short of shouting matches about immigration, the Vietnam War and lots of other things. Some of those debates were started by the TV show “All In The Family” which we always watched together. If you’ve ever watched it, you know that it often had politics involved.

I think my fondest recollection of my dad from my teen years involves “Star Wars”. When I became a teenager, I discovered horror and science fiction books and movies, and I’ve been into both of them ever since. My dad never understood the attraction. But he did take me to see “Star Wars” when it was released in 1977. I was a few months shy of my sixteenth birthday and I took a friend with me (she really didn’t see the attraction either). To save you working the math, that makes me 45 years old! My dad sat through it, since the movie theater was about a thirty-minute drive from home and he really didn’t want to drive home and then come back. His pronouncement after sitting through the movie which is MY favorite movie of all time? “I don’t know why anyone would want to sit and watch a movie full of tin cans!” (Referring to the ships and the droids!). I found this hilarious then, and I still find it hilarious today!

I’ll stop here, because I have so many recollections of my dad from my teen years that I could write a book. Fathers are so important to all kids, including teenagers. I can’t imagine those years without my dad, and I’m happy to say that we have an even closer relationship now, despite the fact that there’s more physical distance between us. I’d love to hear from some of you about memories of your fathers, especially from your teen years!

If you want more on fatherhood, visit Dave at All About Fatherhood.

fathers, dads, fatherhood, Star Wars, All In The Family, teens, teenagers, parents, parenting

Do you enjoy hanging out on the internet and chatting with other moms-especially moms of other teens? Do you like having a place to ask for advice on what other moms would do in a certain situation? Having a place to vent about what’s going on with your kids, your significant other, your job, or just life in general?

While looking for other web sites with information on teenagers this past weekend, I ran across CafeMom It’s a great place for moms of teens, and moms in general, to hang out with other moms.

You creat your own profile page, including names and ages of kids, kids’ interests and challenges, your own interests and challenges, etc. On that page, you can upload photos of anything you want. You can choose friends from among other members. You have a journal where you can post thoughts and observations .

There are also forums where you can discuss anything you want-including some great ones for discussing teens! You can also join groups with different interests. There are groups based on everything from your kids’ ages to your favorite TV shows!

CafeMom is a great place to hang out and talk-about your kids or anything else!

CafeMom, moms, mothers, teens, teenagers, children, parents, parenting

Ever watch “The Gilmore Girls” with your teen? My daughter and I have loved the misadventures of Lorelai and daughter, Rory, from the beginning. (By the way, AmyD does a great job of covering the show and it’s stars over at Watching Gilmore Girls. Give it a read and you’ll love it!) We have a close relationship, similar to the show’s characters, although we have yet to reach the rough patches they have. I’m sure it will come, though. Every relationship has them.

Anyway, since school is closed for bad weather in our area, we’re planning a “Gilmore Girls” kind of day. We have some movies picked out-one of the “Star Wars” movies, “Driving Miss Daisy” and one other-yet to be chosen-movie. We may also watch a couple of “Gilmore Girls” episodes on DVD. We’ve already planned to order pizza for lunch. We have a supply of popcorn and candy laid in.

I love these kinds of days. They make me so glad I’m my own boss and can work or not, as I choose. When you’re able to have times like this with your teen, cherish them. They’ll be great times and great memories for both of you.

Gilmore Girls, parenting teens, teenagers, parents