There are many things in life that we learn about. One thing learned as a parent is that raising teenagers can bring chaos and confusion. What appears crazy becomes the new normal. What appears obsessive becomes natural. The conflicting emotions parallels that of a crazy horse gone wild on a trail which crosses different paths. Creating balance becomes nearly impossible and the word sanity loses its efficacy based on the daily highs and lows in learning how to navigate the ropes of motherhood.
What this mom has come to realize is that during the teen years, emotions are amped up and conflicting emotions seem to dominate the daily order of things. Parting with the childhood years is difficult for me to process, especially now that I have to grapple the challenges of the emotional whiplashes. Both my girls seem to push my buttons on a daily basis. But I hate fighting, so I often times feed into the madness. I’ve learned that there is no reasoning when dealing with a tween and teen. They just want to hold onto their little bubble of chaos as they try to drag you into it. As parents, we struggle while trying to understand what exactly is going on inside their distorted reality. Impossible task. All levels of understanding go out the window.
The struggle is real. Holding the power as a parent of teenage girls is like holding my breath under water and wondering if when I come up for air, will it be an easy lap or a struggle to get to the landing edge? Like any good swimmer, we need to realize one important thing being the parent of a teen. Recognize the treacherous waters, the waves you’re about to enter, and make sure you inhale and exhale every breath with smooth counts.
I pray I can get past the deep end, manage the chaos of these teenage years and one day be able to say “I did it and came out alive.”