Raising Teenage Boys...

As rewarding as it is, sometimes raising teenage boys brings me to the edge of my sanity. Parenting teenage boys is constantly challenging. You hope to do you best, to raise good kids above all... but sometimes you wonder if you are doing the right thing. Every child is different and therefore parenting style need to be different for each child. My kids, for the most part, are good kids. They are respectful, love their family, well adjusted and generally love their life. And like most kids, just when you think you have them figured out, BAM! They do or say something that makes you wonder, and second guess your parenting skills. They are constantly changing, growing. I try to keep things in perspective and look for anything that can guide me. Often that resource is as close as a phone call to a close friend or some parenting articles that explains the problems or reaffirms my beliefs. I happen to come across an article by Mitch DeArmon called "Six Guidelines for Surviving the Day with a Teenage boy". Boy, did it hit the spot! I think mothers in general tend to take things so personally... I think it's a good guideline. It helped me put things in perspective. I think it's great even for girls. Sometimes I wonder if all these bumps in the road are there to keep me humble and level headed. I certainly can do without all the stress it bring to me though. I just keep hoping that I'm doing the right thing. I know I'm certainly trying my best. I guess we'll have to wait and see.