Teenage relationships are so confusing. Were they this complicated when I was a teenager? Or do teenagers just thrive on making things difficult? A few weeks ago the 16-year-old went to a girl’s volley ball game to watch his “sorta girlfriend” play. “Sorta girlfriend?” I asked. “Yeah, we’re kind of going out, but not really,” he said. Um, ok. Whatever that means. Then the other day we were in the car and he was talking to the 14-year-old about some freshman that has a crush on him. “I thought you already have a girlfriend?” I questioned. “Who? Jessica?” “Yeah. Isn’t she your girlfriend?” “No. We just hang out. And talk on the phone. All the things... [Read more]

Did you teens get a flu shot this year? During the 07-08 flu season there were 86 pediatric deaths due to the flu. With the current economic states many college students are replacing their dreams of expensive 4-year colleges with cheaper community colleges. Miley Cyrus’ tween years were “friendless, lonely and miserable” as she was bullied by mean girls. One of the teens convicted of beating a fellow student and videotaping it for YouTube got 3 years of probation and 100 hours of community service plus she must write a letter of apology to the victim. High School Musical’s Zac Efron got a stocking full of condoms for Christmas last year. 20% of teens have sent nude pictures of themselves electronically. Kids who wear... [Read more]

The other day I had a chat with my teens about sexting. Sexting is the term used when teens send naked, or nearly naked, pictures of themselves to a significant other via picture messaging on their cell phones. My teens hadn’t heard of the term “sexting,” but they do know people who have sexted. In fact my 16-year-old sent a picture of himself in just his boxers to a “girlfriend” he had on MySpace a couple years ago. We discussed how it may seem like a fun and harmless thing to do. Teens are trying to explore their sexuality. They are also trying to act grown up. And their hormones are raging. They are getting mixed messages from school, home and the media. Parents and school are trying to teach abstinence, but... [Read more]

After being pretty sedentary for most of the winter I’ve decided to start being a little more active. I’ve been working out several times a week and even joined a hip hop class for completely uncoordinated women over 30. (Ok, maybe I’m the only uncoordinated one, but we are all over 30.) Last Sunday our instructor couldn’t make it to class so we decided to go roller skating instead. It has been 20 years since I’ve been roller skating. And it showed. I considered it a small victory that I was able to stay on my feet the whole 2 hours we were there. Our kids were not so victorious. My 6-year-old declared he was done after just 30 minutes. He took off his skates and begged me for money for the video games for the next... [Read more]

Technology often gets a bad rap. With instant messaging and cell phones, face-to-face conversations are a thing of the past. With video games and television, we aren’t as active as we used to be. But there are some good things too. Like when I call my teenager who is upstairs in the kitchen and ask him to bring me down a glass of water. Oh wait. We’re back to that lazy thing again. So anyway… Today we were driving home when we passed some apartments near our house. My teen asked, “Are those apartments?” I said, “Yes.” “Well I should move in there after high school.” “Why?” “That way I’ll be close to you guys and I can come home to visit. Plus you can call me and be... [Read more]