Here is a link to an article I read this morning on MSN. My kids always, and I mean ALWAYS make fun of me for quoting articles that I read. Mostly parenting articles. But oh well, too bad, sooooo sad!!
10 most dangerous teen fads
I remember when my son decided to move to Orange County with my ex husband. He was sixteen and wanted to try living with dad. Orange County is made up of a bit more money than what we have. So I immediately imagined my son at high school parties snorting Pure Cut Cocaine off of a $1,000,000 antique mirror, through a platinum and diamond encrusted blow straw. I mean, he was going to be hanging out with Rich Kids, while their parents were away jet setting around the world.
Then I read about 'Punch Bowl Parties'!! I immediately called him on the phone, and preached to him the dangers of digesting any colorful pill from a punch bowl.
The phone went dead
~Silence~
"C, you there? Did you hear me? Be careful at parties, and stay away from pills in a punch bowl"
"Crap mom, seriously, you need to not read parenting articles off of the internet, and you especially need to trust me! In fact, mostly you just need to trust me! Pills out of a punch bowl?? I've never even heard of that. Maybe the people who write those articles are going to Pill Parties, huh?! Love ya mom, I gotta go! I'm gonna go smoke some crack............Kidding! Love ya Ma!"
So I laid off of the whole process of reading an article about some crazy teen party fad, and then instantly assuming my children were partaking. I stopped my obsession with the fact that my girls were going to go to slumber parties and 'choke each other till they passed out', or my son would be high fiving his buddies, after digesting a rainbow of pills belonging to some teen boys pill popping mom.
I have good kids. My son is right, I just need to trust them.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I can breathe!
But you know what?
Even good kids make stupid mistakes.
Even good kids can have a lapse in judgment from time to time.
Even good kids can choose to make a 'not good' choice.
So if you click on the link 10 most dangerous teen fads and read through them, I will tell you this.
My 'Good Kids'? They have tried a couple of these.
The Ice Cube Salt trick? - My son. Thank god it didn't get infected, or worse.
The Cinnamon Challenge? - My daughters friends post their videos on Facebook. Hacking, coughing, almost throwing up. My daughter (The one with the Straight A's, and in 2 Honors classes) was grossed out and thought they were stupid. 3 months later she changed her mind. Had a sore throat and a cough for a while, and finally wondered out loud to me "I wonder if there is still Cinnamon in my throat?" WTF was my first thought! Followed by a very long talk.
Passing out game? (not on this list, but....) - Heard from a friend of a friend, of a friend that my daughter had tried this at a slumber party 2 years ago. My frail, skinny, tiny little daughter? All I imagined was her passing out, and never waking up.I approached her on the subject, and she admitted that her and her friend actually were the ones who did not want to really do it, so they teamed up and really only pretended to do it. I called the friends mom, and in the end we believe our daughters that they faked the choking. But as you are reading this, aren't you asking yourself - "FAKE CHOKING?? IS THIS EVEN A 'THING'? WTF" - Yeah, WTF, get's asked a lot around here. Sorry!
Synthetic Marijuana - My son who is now 19, and not so stupid,but every kid is stupid at some time, so I guess he is kinda stupid, admitted to trying this once. His buddy had some, and he tried it. Didn't like it, end of story.
The list has quite a few that I am praying my children have not, and will never try.
Car surfing?? - Guess what, my husband has a scar on his chin, and a piece of asphalt still imbedded into his knee from truck surfing as a teen.
I am not sure exactly what my point was when writing this post, but I think I can summarize a thought.
Every parent thinks they have good kids. (unless you obviously gave birth to the son of Satan,and you knew this because of the horns and tail), and most of us do have good kids.
My children really are 'good', even though they are teenagers. And I guess that brings me to my point.
TEENAGERS
They are thrown into a giant pool of pressure. Maybe not the peer pressure that exists in an after school special; remember those programs?
In fact, my kids laugh at me when I use the phrase 'peer pressure'. They say nobody acts like they do in the movies. There isn't a group that surrounds you, shoving a joint in your face, strong arming you and saying "Come on, all the cool kids are doing it! Don't you want to be cool too?"
So that kind of peer pressure may not be happening, but there is a stealth, hidden pressure that I think just exists. Teens are inundated every single second of their day by social media, and of course the friends that are soaking in the social media, and it just keeps going.
I can't be with them every single second of their day.
I can't follow them to every slumber party, or get together.
I can only keep talking to them, opening up conversation, and yes,
I can keep bringing up the articles I read.
Because maybe out of the twenty crazy things that I read about that teens all over the world are trying,
my 'good kids' may be getting ready to try one. Or they already did, and they'd like to get it off of their chest.
For every bad choice they may make, they are making 50 more good choices, and for that I will praise my kids........but boy will I lecture or punish the hell out of them for that one bad choice.
Parenting is hard.
My parents worried that I would do drugs, drink and have sex.
Not that I would digest a spoonful of cinnamon while being choked, after digesting pills from a punch bowl, before going car surfing and downing a Robitussin concoction.
A toast to parents, and just trying to make it through the teen years!
And a toast to the teens, because they really do have a lot comin at them from all directions. They are just trying to make it through as well.
Am I actually old enough to say "I miss the good ol' days"?
