Thursday 9 July 2009

Teenage Kicks!

teenagers Pictures, Images and Photos

Can you guess which road our rambles are leading me down today, mes mammy bloggeurs et pappy bloggeristas?

Here's another clue!

angst Pictures, Images and Photos

No, seriously! It feels a bit like this...

teenagers Pictures, Images and Photos
And you thought you were through with all those tedious Toddler Tantrums that caused such embarrassment in supermarkets from pillar to post!

teenage Pictures, Images and Photos

You get those out of the way. You get them into the right schools, spend hours ferrying them back and forwards to 'clubs' - Sometimes tennis, then there was the winter he was dead keen on fencing; Then came the Fifth Year when he wanted to learn the keyboards...

...That lasted ooh, all of six months... Then his life depended upon being able to understand Music Theory, and you found that private tutor in town, who charged you a King's Ransom for a scintilla of the bitter taste of fickle fame... And the possibility that taking out a second mortgage on your home might help him with his Advanced Level Music exam...

Then there was the first crush, unrequited of course and, oh yes, those months when he hated you with a vengeance, and wanted you dead and buried so that he would inherit the house...

And then your children become teenagers overnight, and that's when the proverbial shit hits the fan.

teenage Pictures, Images and Photos
But, you're not unduly concerned, you brought your boy up well, after all...

He's been a good kid throughout, no real problems to speak of...

Of course, he could always work harder in lessons, pay more attention in class, and not try to be popular and funny - The Class Clown...

Then he went out with that lovely girl for nearly a year - You called her The Preacher's Daughter. ...(You remember, Fhina, after that hummable Dusty Springfield number, and because her dad was a Nice Man of the Cloth?)... She was lovely, she was.

Petite, blonde, pretty. Bright as a button, and you got to meet her properly for the first time just before Christmas when she came for dinner... You offered her a lovely, trendy wool Sk8er crochet scarf in shades of blue and deepest pink (a bargain at TK Maxx), and tiny turquoise and silver earrings...

She was kind enough to give you a huge box of your favourite chocolates, and you had to use your great big stick to fend off the rest of them, just to be able to savour them, and share them out over a few days as opposed to just ten minutes!

And then they split up a week later - A mutual decision apparently, followed by acrid accusations and rancid repercussions!

And now they're bosom buddies, complete with big friendly bear-hugs.

Thank the Goddess! Well, that child that you have always - Jokingly - referred to as the 'Child from Hell', in that scary voice you put on sometimes, has lived up to that nickname in recent months...

teenage devil dolls Pictures, Images and Photos

First, there was the slamming of doors, some breaking of glass...

(Yes, if you remember, Fhina, that was when he closed the door swiftly on that walking cane you were using to help you get about back then?

Mind, you were also shaking it at him - To illustrate a point, as it were!).

There were those bad moods, punctuated by howling mirth; Pious Pleading...

"Never again, I promise..." followed by Days Of Sullen Silence...

You have met demands for Birthday Present Driving Lessons and a school trip overseas where under the teacher's eye he got rolling drunk - or 'mortal' in the words of the Yoof...

teenagers Pictures, Images and Photos

You have made accommodations for his fine friends to stay over, and you have turned the occasional blind eye to him not being exactly where he was supposed to be, at precise o'clock...
...Because he was having such a good time, he had forgotten what time it was...

And slowly, but surely, it dawns on you that you have been living in that Parent Limbo between wanting to hold on to him, to hug him, and protect him, no matter what - He's your beloved only child for the Goddess's sake - to letting him go off and make his own choices in life...

(While still wondering out loud to your husband whether he is just too old to be put up for adoption!)

And as our Queen, darling Gloria once roller-disco'd, "I will survive!"

See you tomorrow, mes adorables, for more Tales of the Teenage Rampage from our regular, and wonderful, contributors!

the ANGST~ Pictures, Images and Photos


11 comments:

  1. You all should get even one of these days, at opportune moments, say at their graduation from college party. Somehow, they share everythibg on Myspace, their mamas could keep these mementos.

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  2. Oh Fhina! You know I'm living this right now times TWO, right? TWO teenage daughters complete with emotional tantrums and friend-drama, crushes, and an inability to be anywhere on time. Kill me NOW!

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  3. I'm stopping Ryan now. At 10. Stopping her completely. She can grow/age no more. Not for another 10 years or so, then she can go straight to 20 and get the hell out of the house!

    It's that, or she's going to visit Auntie Fhina for a long, long time. Or Auntie Bloggus... she's been through it all... she'll know what to do. Wait... she has The Boy, who will be a teenager at the same time as Herself. Oh, no, that won't work. Auntie Fhina it is!

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  4. My Teenager-in-waiting is showing signs of becoming a fully blown teenager. Pray for me.

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  5. Fhina. . .

    You know that I know that you know exactly what you're talking about! Can I steal some of those photos? Or become a contributor? Or just join a support group????

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  6. Oy, oy, oy. I'm notquite there with the man-boy and the Queenager is a good girl, although when she got on the wrong bus the other day, and landed in a part of town she wasn't familiar with, it would have gone down a bit better if she phoned with a plea for help instead of demanding "someone will have to pick me up. I've run out of bus fare." I did pick her up - and drove her straight to the nearest bus stop!

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  7. ANGST sums it up so succinctly....I can feel the pain all over again......sigh.....and for them....

    great post Fhi.

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  8. Good one, Fhina. Pity Junior missed out the preacher's daughter girlfriend stage but what-the-heck - one cannot have everything. And I remember the day the door glass went!

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  9. lakeviewer: Please say that is a guarantee, darling Rosaria?! x

    blognut: Get on over here and right then, sweet Bloggus Parentus?! It's the antidote to tearing your hair out, I swear! xox

    Diane: You've found that reverse ageing serum, obviously?! And Auntie Fhina's house is always open to darling Ryan, as long as she's not in league with any boys - Ever! Not even Bloggus's sweet boy... Some hope, eh, of Ry never taking up with boys... ;) xxx

    notSupermum: Your prayers have been heard, notSupermum... Await further instruction... x

    lizspin: Liz, with all your woes and bringing up a fabulous family, I am certain there may well be space for you over here, to contribute and come and live within our Perfect Parenting Ones! And feel free to take any of my photos, Sweetie, but you may have to ask the other dahlink contributors, if you fancy any of theirs... :) Love to you, xxx

    Expat mum: I love it that you have a Queenager - What a fab title! I love what you did with your DD (Demanding Daughter!) Mine is currently cramming Driving Theory for a test he is taking tomorrow - Lastminute.com is my man-child! x

    Saz: Bless you, dearest Saz... For everything, for always xox

    Scriptor Senex: Ah, Sir, now his fledgeling girlfriend is a year older than him, and he wants her to sleep-over this weekend - Heyyyyyyyyylllllllllppppppppppp!!!! x


    09 July 2009 18:47

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  10. Husband and I used to say that we could measure the hormone level in the house by the loudness of the slamming doors.

    THEN we took a bedroom door off the hinges as a result.

    TaDa!! No more slamming. Still lots of hormones, however. It's like a popcorn pan full of hormones!

    Great job, my dear, with the post! I love the pics.

    xxoosink

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  11. Sink: That is interesting, having slammed two doors this afternoon myself, in frustration... I like the popcorn pan analogy! Too true! Blessings wise, patient Sink! x

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