Anyone have teens?

[mrsreynolds4]

I feel like I'm not doing so well navigating the world of parenting-a-high-schooler.

My kids went to a very community-oriented K-8 so I knew most of their friends pretty well, and usually the parents at least a little.  If I didn't know them, then I knew another mom who could vouch for them.  It was nice.

Now, I don't know the parents at all - and barely know who the kids are that my kids want to hang out with.

DS1 (starting 11th grade) has always gravitated toward older kids and it scares the sh!t out of me that he's hanging out with kids who are headed to college this fall.  Kids who still live at home, but I have no clue what that home is really like.

I think part of it is that I know what kinds of kids I hung out with at 16 -- kids like me, doing bad things -- and I just hope that when he tells me they're behaving, it's the truth.

Just thinking about it makes me wish we hadn't finished the wine last night.

[cc]

I have a daughter going into 9th grade and am so nervous. I also have a son going into middle school and I am worried about him too, but for different reasons. With my daughter, I worry about the stuff she will be exposed to in high school and whether or not she will make the right choices. With my son, I worry about him being picked on because he is kind of quirky.

My teenager has made some friends whose parents I do not know, but she is heavily involved in dance and rarely has free time. The little free time she has is usually spent socializing with the dance friends since they naturally became close since they spend so much time together.

I think keeping them busy is a good way to keep them out of trouble. At least that is what I tell myself every time I write a check to the dance studio!

[mrsreynolds4]

Jul 24, 2014 14:24:53 GMT -5 cc said:

I have a daughter going into 9th grade and am so nervous. I also have a son going into middle school and I am worried about him too, but for different reasons. With my daughter, I worry about the stuff she will be exposed to in high school and whether or not she will make the right choices. With my son, I worry about him being picked on because he is kind of quirky.

My teenager has made some friends whose parents I do not know, but she is heavily involved in dance and rarely has free time. The little free time she has is usually spent socializing with the dance friends since they naturally became close since they spend so much time together.

I think keeping them busy is a good way to keep them out of trouble. At least that is what I tell myself every time I write a check to the dance studio!

I do agree with this.  DS1 (11th grade) is not into sports, and most of what he likes to do are very unstructured activities; guitar, art, skateboarding (long boards, not skate park), etc.  I made him find *something* to join at school so he got involved with an ocean/environment group.  He was really involved in youth group, but that's slipped.  His dad & I just got on the same page (finally!) and told him since he's having a hard time finding a job, he will be volunteering regularly.  Partly just to keep him busy and out of his room.

DS2 (9th grade) is totally different - football takes up a lot of his time.  Between that and his tough class schedule, he'll be lucky to get enough sleep before December.  I know a lot of his teammates' families already though, so that is nice.  I imagine it's similar with your DD and her dance friends.

[cc]

Yup. I know most of the dance families, but not many of my son's friends. He plays the trumpet and will be in the band at middle school, which I hope helps. He is not athletic at all and would be completely ok staying in the house all day playing video games or reading. I sometimes have to force him to go swimming in our pool just to get him to get out of the house. He is the complete opposite of my daughter and I don't want him to become antisocial and have no friends.

I always say that taking care of little kids is so much easier than the teenage years!