"Mom, I want . . ."

One day one of my children came up to me and said, "Mom, I want . . . ," and there was no closure. Isn't that the truth? There is no end to what a child wants, or what an adult wants, or to what any of us want. We all just want. A recent request came from Kristina who said she wanted to go camping with the family. This was no small request. Kristina has no problem making huge requests at any time of day or night; fresh, tired, rich, poor, it's all about her pressing needs and wants.

We have a family camping dilemma---the boys and the girls. The boys like hard-core-pack-it-in-climb-the-face-of-the-cliff camping. The girls, well, we do well with lots of padding and toilet paper, got it? When we've camped as a family the boys have frequently let the girls know we're a burden; whiny, inconvenient, etc. So we said no more of that. If we're going to camp as a family, we're going to be happy campers, whether we like it or not. No whining, no anti-female comments.

Miraculously we found a date that would work and through persistence Beamer and I got work off. When we were planning the camp out Beamer was complaining that he wanted to go somewhere new and that what he really wanted was to go camping just with Christian. Since Christian is 7,500 miles away, I didn't think he was going to make it for the weekend. We all just sat there, lethargic and bored. Planning was a disaster. But, we kept the date and the plans.

Kevin with match number nine, ten . . .

We arrived at Kolob Reservoir, awestruck from the scenic drive. Setting up camp after a good rain was interesting as my husband joked that I couldn't make a one-match fire. After several of his own failed attempts we had a blaze a-going.

Funny things happen on camp outs. Girls actually like their dads.

We came, we camped, we conquered. We stayed warm and dry and we were all in a good mood. Heaven and earth were moved for Kristina's wish, and I can attest that miracles of Biblical proportions still happen. Our camp out was proof!

Teenagers are entertaining

"I would rather have an obedient, honest child," was my reply.  Kristina asked me the question after I asked her if doing some of her brother's dishes would hurt her.  To which she said, "Yes.  . . . At least I'm honest.  Would you rather have a whiny, disobedient, honest child, or an obedient, dishonest child?"  So now you have my answer.

I must say, some of the things my kids say really crack me up.  Stina and I were talking about the Little Mermaid musical showing at the Tuacahn Amphitheater.  Kristina said she'd like to see it, but not that much, adding, "I mean, I'm not going out of my way to see some chick with red hair and purple seashells." 

Warning: Strong teen vernacular follows.

Beamer and I were talking about using the snooze feature on alarm clocks, and how using two alarm clocks saved him from sleeping in today.  I told him how I hear Kristina using the snooze feature again and again and again on the same morning.  Kristina piped up and said that she had used snooze for an hour this morning.  Beamer retorted, “Do you call that restful sleep?  I call it pissed off at your alarm clock!”

After breakfast Kristina saw a cat in our yard and went out to pet it.  Beamer, whom we call "bunny killer" said,  “You don’t try to pet it, you chase it away.”  (More on the "bunny killer" later.)

And speaking of chasing animals, Beamer had to tell us about seeing a dog doing its number on his friend’s lawn.  Not seeing the pet’s owner he chased it away.  When the owner saw Beamer he said, “That’s real mature.”  Beamer thought to himself, “Wow, if I went and crapped on your lawn, that’s real mature!”

A lot of these kinds of conversations happen before 8 a.m.  The day only gets better.  I told the troops I'll keep them around as long as they entertain me!

One thing the commandos tell the troops is, "We love you . . . on Tuesdays and Thursdays."  As the kids were leaving for school today I said, "I love you! . . . Is it Thursday? . . . Nope, it's Friday."  I think I entertain them too.

Introducing the troops

I say, "Introducing the troops," because rearing teenagers is much like living in a battle field.  It's their tactics, their weapons, their ambition against you, the parent.  Hopefully you have a spouse or partner to help out.  And hopefully your partner is like minded in the crusade.

After Christian's first bike wreck.

Christian, Beamer and Kristina Wright.  These are the troops.  Christian lives in Australia, volunteering as a missionary for our church.  He goes by the religious title "Elder" Wright.  BMW are Bronson's initials, so we call him "Beamer."  Everyone calls him Beamer and no one knows his real name.  Kristina is "Stina" in the family.

Janet and Kevin, special-ops commandos and sometimes
very effective parents.

Get to know Beamer and Stina at http://splashmultimedia.blogspot.com/.

The grass is greener right here

Welcome to your all-purpose-dealing-with-teenagers-in-the-real-world resource.  This is about the sensible management and enjoyment of kids at their most entertaining stage of life.  You may have thought the toddler words and antics were tops, but I say that the teen years are tops.  

Teenagers are fun, funny and they know a lot.  Let's face it, we knew the most we ever knew about life as teenagers.

The most significant thing about teenagers is their will and desire for freedom/control.  Take that willful toddler, package him/her in an adult-sized body, and you are in for the ride of your life.

This is about enjoying the ride.  About smelling the grass right under your feet---right now!  Dealing with the "getting my way is my first priority" is what our little adventure is all about.

Let's see what we can come up with. . . .