Mea Culpa

Yes - sometimes you need to be a little tougher - I am honest with her. It isn't like I sneak and read her stuff (whcn I did) - I told her I was going to - I also let her know I know kids will read some stuff and say swears and stuff like that - you are not going to get in trouble for that. I am reading it to make sure you are safe.

I did read some things I did not like. But I knew she was acting like a teen - I was only focused on ensuring she was not harming herself - she shared that with friends -some of which would go and let a trusted an adult know - some would not - I knew the friends that did without anyone telling me.

I could actually tell by the way she responded (non-verbally) that it did give her comfort that I was watching out for her.

She is just finishing up her junior year now. And has been progressively getting better. Less outbursts, being more open and talking with more about just what is going on in her life; she seems more content and comfortable with herself.

Every child is different and you adjust yourself to what best works for that child.

You don't need to defend yourself to me.

There is no book or owner's manual with kids. I did what I needed to do to protect as well as nurture. I tried to respect their privacy but what I would not do was throw them up in the air and say "fly little bird".

Somehow we muddle through. Somehow it works for the best. Sometimes we're making it up as we go. But somehow we make it work and our kids love us for it.

Thanks, Bobsal.

Oops. Sorry. Too quick to be judgmental there. Hope all goes well for you and the girls. No way I would want responsibility for young girls or women in today's world.

See how I was able to remove all guilt from your thread??
Now Linkat is wearing it.

My kids are 51, 49, 45 and a nephew 30. At family gatherings they sit around and talk about all the things they did that they think I don’t know about (like taking our the car at 3 am and filling the vodka bottle up with water so I wouldn’t notice)

I just smile and mumble, “ I knew that”

Best revenge is that they have teens and twenty-something kids themselves now and are going thru their own stuff.

My darling granddaughter did “ what”? - Never!!

Many of us have been pulled into responding to trolls (and the troll wannabes). I still land there at times. More often than is necessary, wise or good. Less than I used to, so, it's an improvement.

Thanks - the stress is high right now - 3 more finals next week and junior year is over!

Now the worry over summer and what mischief she will get into -- I think she will have a job though - the athletic director at her school offered her a job at their sports camps for the elementary kids. That should keep her busy and with covid - her spring basketball was moved to summer and with moving all the college visit to late summer fall - I think it will keep her busy enough to stay out of trouble!

Glad I could help out.

This was bad - my daughter for our anniversary gift (the older more dependable one) pulled together a scrap book for us. The scary thing she found some older photos - ones before even marriage.

Yeah she put one in where I was not the boring mom that does nothing.