Am I Beautiful, Mom?

My four year old has discovered the bathroom mirror.

This morning, as I was brushing my own hair, Kira decided that she needed to see in the mirror and brush her own hair. After a moment, she looked at me across the mirror and asked, "Am I beautiful, Mommy?"

SIGH!!!

I looked at her and told her that of course she was beautiful - which she is. Then I told her that she was also very smart and very kind and gentle. I made it a point to focus on her other positive traits at this moment when she decided that beauty must surely matter.

I think it is incredibly important that children learn early that outward physical beauty is not the most important attribute that a person can have. Beauty has so many different incarnations, and children should understand that other positive attributes are greatly valued.

In this new phase of discovering beauty, Kira has also discovered fashion. There are now clothes that she refuses to wear because they are ugly. She has developed her very own personal taste in clothing. Lucky for me, she seems to have good taste - for now.

**It should be noted that Kira is only 4 yrs old and is nowhere near her teenage years. In a few years I will be reminding myself of my own good wisdom by reviewing these pages frequently and thoroughly.

The Joy of Teenagers

Today at church I was told that teenagers were the most difficult part of parenting. I think her exact words were that teenagers were meant to be evil to help parents in the process of pushing them out of the nest.

This amazes me on so many levels. I tend to feel that the teenage years can be the absolute best years of parenting. When your children reach the teen years, they are growing more mature and more capable of understanding very complex information. This time in their lives is so crucial to determining what path they may follow in their adult lives. As parents, it's important to treasure the teen years and use these years wisely in order to provide your kids with the best possible foundation for adulthood.

The key to successful parenting of teens is remembering. Remember your own years as a teenager and how awkward life was. Remember how big each obstacle was to your own mind then. Remember how you felt when you interacted with your parents, what it was your parents did that annoyed you and what pleased you. Try to reconnect with your own inner teenager in order to connect with your teenage child. Recalling how your life was will help you realize what your child is going through, and that this stage is very normal. You'll also be able to anticipate what your child needs and more readily provide the appropriate responses.

Cherish the teenager instead of dreading these years. Attitude is very important, and a negative attitude towards this part of parenting will certainly insure a negative experience.

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OH MY!!!

I have 26 followers.

When did this happen?

HOW did this happen?

I'm just so shocked and amazed that so many people find my words to be worthy of their time.

You guys just don't know how much this means to me to see that list and watch it grow and grow and grow.

Thank you all so much!!!

Why Toddlers Don't Do What They're Told

Somebody did a study to find out why toddlers don't do what we tell them to do.

Here's a link to the article.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090325/sc_livescience/whytoddlersdontdowhattheyretold

I found this to be quite interesting.

Outings...

We went to the Touch-a-Truck event in Kennesaw yesterday. I just wanted to share some pictures.

The Purple Box

I'm going to sidetrack from discipline for a moment to discuss something else that is just as important.

**Note to the Grandma** --- You might not want to read this one!!! Consider yourself fairly warned.

Most of you know that I have a 14 year old son. We talk often about the realities of growing up and the responsibilities that come with age. This weekend was my chosen time to approach a sensitive topic that I knew we needed to discuss.

Now, when I talk to my son about issues that I know we will both find to be embarrassing or difficult to cover, I generally talk while I'm driving. I don't have to look at him. He doesn't have to look at me. And yet we can talk and talk and talk - or he can listen and listen and listen.

When I picked him up on Friday I told him that I had something to say and he didn't have to respond, just listen. His response, of course, was "one of those" things, huh Mom?

YEP! One of THOSE things.

So I told him that I was taking into consideration his age and the knowledge that I have of the kinds of things that teenagers often do. I then told him that while I don't want him to be having sex, I know there will come a time when he will be interested in such activities. I also realize that buying condoms can be incredibly embarrassing for young adults. Heck - I'm 35 and still feel a bit uncomfortable with the thought of waltzing into a store to buy condoms.

Now I know there are those of you who will say, "If you can't talk about it or buy the supplies, then you ought not be doing it." It isn't that I disagree with that statement, but I'm also very realistic in my thinking.

So here is my solution to this problem. I don't recall where I read this, but it was in a book or magazine somewhere. I will be buying a box in the near future and filling it with condoms. There will be enough condoms that I could not easily tell if he has taken any out of the box. I told him that he was free to take them for himself or any friends that may need them, and that I would not be keeping tabs on how many were there or how many were gone.

My son - being accustomed to conversations such as this - played along. He insisted that the box must be purple and not see through. It should be placed with all the other household supplies, but not in an obvious location so that he would have to look at said box or move it whenever he wanted to get a bar of soap or toothpaste.

The household supplies, by the way, reside in the closet in my son's bedroom because the closet there is very large and he folds his clothes so he does not need that space.

After we settled on the style of the container, he decided it was time to change the subject to anything other than condoms. But I felt like the discussion had been a success and walked away with the knowledge that he was still comfortable talking to me about such matters as this.

Now I have to go shopping... but not today. Maybe next week. He assures me there is no rush.