Nothing like attending a Christian High School graduation to take me back 15 years to my own high school graduation. A trip down memory lane and I was the one standing in my cap and gown instead of our friends' daughter. I assumed my graduation would feel like it was yesterday. It didn't. It felt like it was 15 years ago. By the way, did you know that I was valedictorian? Impressed? Don't be. There were 20 people in my class.
When I was in high school I was really worried that life would never get better than my life in high school. Really? Yes, in my teenage mind I figured high school would be the best years of my life. And although there were some really fun times in high school, thank God I was absolutely wrong.
Speaking of teenagers, I've been thinking about them alot lately. Partly probably because I just started seeing my first teenage client. I have to confess that I don't really "get" the teenage brain. Research actually proves that teenagers process very differently than adults and that their brains have more gray matter, much like toddlers. You should check out Inside the Teenage Brain on PBS. My mom always said that teenagers are just like toddlers and science can back her up!! But, seriously, I just don't know when I crossed the line of relating to teenagers over to relating more to their parents.
I know I am going to sound old, but teenagers these days have alot of different issues to deal with than I did. I got my first email address when I was a senior and my first cell phone when I was 29. Not these guys. They are always plugged in and connected. As parents, how and where do you draw the privacy line with technology? I am overwhelmed just thinking about it. And when I think about Montana becoming a teenager, all I can think is, "come quickly, Lord Jesus." Occasionally I get glimpses of what she may be like as a teenager when she pops an attitude or talks about make-up or is overly dramatic, and I brace myself. But for now, I will be grateful that she is an imaginative, playful 3 year old who constantly says, "you be the mama ____ (insert any creature here, such as dog or dragon) and I'll be the baby ____ (insert any creature here, such as dog or dragon)." Although it drives me positively crazy some days, at least she is not buried in her phone texting her friends.....yet. God help me.
Teenagers. They keep life interesting.
