Raising Teenagers

By the grace of God we are nearly finished with the teen years for our three children. Raising teenagers is difficult. There are no two ways about it. They are often moody, disagreeable, defiant, rebellious, annoying, exasperating, indifferent, apathetic, lazy and generally oblivious to anything that doesn't directly benefit them. They think they know everything and won't listen to anything adults tell them to do. Don't get me wrong, this is the way God made them and they basically can't help it. And yes, I was once an annoying teenager too. All those hormones will whack anybody out.

I once saw these sayings and I thought they accurately described what it's like to raise teenagers.

*Raising teenagers is like trying to nail Jell-O to a tree

*Raising teenagers is like being slowly pecked to death by a chicken

*Parents of teenagers know why animals eat their young

*Adolescence is a period of rapid physical changes. Between the ages of 12 and 17 parents have been known to age as much as 20 years

And while I'm on the subject of teenagers... Why is that teenagers are never seen without their phones, never miss a call or text message from their friends, but it is impossible to reach them when they're out?

And the way they speak... sheesh!



Someone once said in jest... God gives us 12 years to love our kids before they become teenagers.

In the end, we love our kids unconditionally, just as our parents did for us (and still do).

Soli Deo Gloria!