Jay and I have been working hard lately on the issue of boundaries with a couple of the kids lately....namely, Mike and Luke. With Mike being close to 20 and in his second year of college, there's a lot of tugging going on by him and by us on expectations and limits. While Mike is a good kid, his decisions are not always stellar because of lack of life experience and that teenage attitude of invincibility. Mike often makes me think of a poster that hung in the bathroom at one of my first jobs..."Quick, teenagers, move out now while you still know everything!"
The worries of parents of teenagers exhaust me. I want my teens to have responsible fun and have friends that will share in that fun. There's only so much control we have with Mike and his decisions...and that control is decreasing rapidly. It has to. He is almost an adult and needs to learn to make decisions as an adult. But is he ready? There's just so much at stake. Many "grown-up" choices have severe consequences and I SO want him to choose the right path.
As a mom, I walk on a slippery slope. Suggest too much and you push them to do the opposite...suggest too little and I'm not being a good parent.
There's all the doubt: Did I do enough? Did I do too much?
Sometimes, teenagers can make you feel like such a failure as a parent! They definitely make you pray more...because there is no way I am making it through this stage alone!
