*I wrote this post as part of my participation in a blog tour for Latina Mom Bloggers on behalf of the Allstate Foundation and received compensation to thank me for taking the time to participate. However, all opinions expressed are my own. This June, my oldest is turning eleven years old and I am bracing myself to address some of the changes that will arise due to his being a tween and eventually a teenager. Believe it or not, he is already asking me about when he will be able to drive and it is definitely a topic that I am apprehensive about because I understand the safety concerns that are involved with teen drivers. Many years ago, my teenage cousin was driving his parents and sister home from a family gathering when he fell asleep at the wheel and crashed. He and his father died in the accident and his mother and sister spent weeks recovering in the hospital. Due to this traumatic incident, I have always been afraid of the day that my own sons would finally get … [Read more...]
Baby Blues
It seems like every single time I turn around I learn that one of my old students just had a baby. Now, of course we all know that the birth of a baby is a joyous event that should be celebrated. However, I can't help thinking that these young girls have no idea what they are getting into. Most of these girls are in their late teens or early twenties and I doubt that they are fully aware of how a woman's life changes after she becomes a mother. I had my oldest son when I was 26 and I really thought that this was a perfect age to have a child and that I was fully prepared to be a parent both emotionally and financially. Boy was I wrong! A close friend of mine made a great point when she stated that nobody is ever really completely ready to have a child and that each person learns how to parent through trial and error. This statement totally makes sense to me now as I reflect upon everything I have learned about motherhood. It also makes me sad that these … [Read more...]
Watch Your Mouth!
This past week, I had to get involved in something that I simply could not hold my tongue about anymore. You see, the teenage daughter of one of my family members posted something extremely inappropriate on Facebook and I just could not turn a blind eye to it. Believe me, this was totally against my better judgment because this is not the first time that this has happened with this teenage cousin. She and her siblings have posted vulgar and sexual things on Facebook in the past and getting involved in it did not turn out very well for me. Herein lies the problem, their mother is an enabler. She had children well into her mid to late thirties and now she complains that she doesn't have the energy to deal with their teenage shenanigans. A contributing factor to all of this has been the decline of her health over the years. Although she is not incapacitated in any way, she has been in treatment over the years for a menagerie of physical ailments and she blames her inability … [Read more...]
