Adolescence
By MOM

Adolescence is a frightening time for both parents and children. Your cute little darlings who used to follow you around worshipfully trusting and believing that everything you said, did, or thought could only be rivaled in wisdom by God, suddenly, seem to turn on you and to hold the opinion the you are among the most intellectually challenged people on the face of the earth. They no longer hang on your skirts or pants but seem to want to get away from you as much as possible and idolize people of questionable worth. The harder you try to love them, the more they reject you, or so it seems.

Fortunately, I remembered this hard time with my own mother and myself. So, when my oldest daughter was about eleven, we had a talk. I asked her if she loved me. She gave me many assurances which warm my heart to this day. Then, I told her that some day soon she would feel differently. I related all of my memories of the anger, frustration and almost hatred that I had sometimes felt toward my mother during my teenage years. I explained that she too would have these feelings toward me, sometimes, but that she should not worry too much about them when they happened because as she got older they would pass. "You see," I told her, "If you keep loving me as you do today, you can never leave me and start a new family. This is natures way of making our parting possible. When you are established in your own home with your own family, we will come together again and love each other as much as we do now. But, it will be better because then we will have a new friendship as well." Later, after she was grown, my child told me that this talk prior to adolescence greatly helped her during the rough times we had.

The good news for parents in the thick of it now is that by the time they are 30 almost everyone becomes a pretty descent adult. So, hang in there.