Desperate To Communicate With Our Teens
I’m a desperate housewife. Well, I mean, I’m a fan of the ABC television show Desperate Housewives. I even make my husband watch it (although I doubt he’ll admit that). I particularly relate to Lynette Scavo with her large family of mostly boys. I think the show creator, Marc Cherry, does a good job of balancing Lynette’s positives with her faults. I love how Lynette is trying her hardest to be a good mom, but still willing to admit to and learn from her mistakes. ‘Cause let’s face it ladies (and men), we all make mistakes in this long parenting journey.
Did you see last night’s episode? This season the story has zoomed ahead five years so Lynette’s children are no longer trouble-making grade schoolers. Now they are trouble-making teenagers. On last night’s episode Lynette was worried her son Porter was still friends with a kid who had recently been arrested for drugs. To find out she created a fake profile on a social networking site (much like MySpace) and “friended” her son. While on the site she discovered Porter was truthful when he said he was no longer friend’s with the teen involved in drugs and she also found out Porter wrote poetry. She was thrilled to learn something new about her son; something he would never talk to her about since teenagers don’t talk to their parents. But it took a turn for the worse when she discovered Porter had a crush on her (or umm…her online persona) and she had to break it off. But when she broke it off she accidentally signed it “love mom” and completely blew her cover.
There was a great scene where she apologized to Porter and told him she really misses talking to him and being a part of his life. It was obvious Porter was a little touched by that even though he was angry that his mom had spied on him.
It’s hard to stay connected to our teens. When they get to this age we suddenly become the enemy. They no longer confide in us. Instead they are confiding in their friends. Somewhere along the line we became these old people who don’t know anything and certainly don’t understand what our teenager could possibly be going through.
But we’ve got to keep trying. We’ve got to keep communicating with them even if they won’t communicate back. I wouldn’t suggest lying or sneaking around behind their back. When you get caught it just makes it worse. But don’t give up on your teen either. At this age teens are very egocentric and thinking of the now rather than the future. But they still need their mommy (and daddy).
This is a Blogtoberfest Sponsored Post. If you would like to enter for a chance to win the surprise gift behind this blog post, please leave a comment. Prize and Winner will be announced within a week. Check back to see if you’re the lucky winner and what you’ve won!
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Please enter me. I want a surprise.
I’m in–thanks for the contest!
I think the fast-forwarding thing is turning out very interesting. I saw that episode and thought Lynette went too far. But then again, my daughter is only 12 and still communicates fairly well with me. In a year or so I might completely understand her actions!
Just one question – where’s Penny? She’s probably 8 or so now, right? So shouldn’t she be around her parents at least sometimes? It’s like she no longer exists. Weird.
The fast forward leaves many unanswered questions.
My daughter is only 7, the teen years will come though. Right now is a great age for us. Thanks for the chance.
My high school daughters tell my wife nearly everything that’s going on in their lives. Somehow they’ve made that kind of unspoken pact. If I was a single dad, which I’m not, I wonder if I could foster that same kind of role. Not that they don’t communicate with me, but with my wife, it’s on a deeper level.
As long as one of us can maintain that kind of dynamic with our kids, I guess that’s all that counts. But sometimes, I’m kind of envious.
Count me in too
Thank you for having this! I love surprises. Thank you!
tatertot374@sbcglobal.net
Please enter me
My daughter is only 5 but I have fears about what the tween years are going to be like. She is a good kid and I am hoping it will stay that way.
Hope I get the surprise. How fun!
I won a contest and I got to meet Eva Longoria on the set of Desperate Housewives. Awesome win!
want to win this
Nothing like a surprise!
I have a 17yr old daughter, my third female teenager, I will soon breathe a sigh of relief!
I have two teenagers. One tells me most things and the other won’t say a work. It’s so frustrating.
Love the show.
who would have thought
i love surprises.
Well said. No matter how much teens say they don’t want rules or our interference and concern, it does make them feel safe and sometimes can keep them from spiraling out of control.
I relate to her too. I raised 4 sons-chaos.
I’d love to be the winner!!
Please enter me
Hope i win the surprise gift.
I would love to win, whatever it is.
I’d love to get in on the blogtoberfest giveaways!! Thanks so much!!
Count me in! I’d love to see what the surprise is!
Desperate here also. lol and it is so real it makes me laugh. Thank you for your offering
Thank you so much for always offering such wonderful contest.
I would LOVE to win
Blogtoberfest is such a great idea. Gets people to try new blogs.
We have a 16 year old,it feels like we are hanging on to the back of a rollercoaster ride by our fingertips. Its been like that since he turned 14.
All we want is for the ride to stop safely.
I would love to win
My kids are still young…we’ll see if good communication continues.
bebemiqui82(at)yahoo(dot)com
I am sooo not looking forward to the teen years. Mine are still young yet but I am dreading it. Keep up the good work, I need all the preparation I can get.
This is one of my favorite shows.
janetfaye (at) gmail (dot) com
I absolutely love Desperate Housewives, I never miss an episode. This Blogtoberfest hopping is a lot of fun. Thanks so much for the opportunity!
furygirl3132[at]comcast[dot]net
I just love surprises!
I have a teen daughter so I can relate,count me in for the contest,thanks
Thanks for the contest!
Glad to say I made it through the teen years with all 3 of my children, and thanks for the chance to enter this giveaway
thanks for the giveaway!
We have teen age grand children that are a delight!
My oldest is nine so I am planning ahead.
Please accept my entry, thank you ~
Thanks for the great giveaway!
Im glad mine are still little!! Im worried about whats going to happen in about 10 years when all 4 of them start to get into those years!!
We are heading to the teens, but we both like surprises.
Past that now. You need to keep in mind they do get through the teens, you will get gray hair, it not lose much and in the end you can look forward to them loving and appreciateing you warts and all.
No TEENAGERS for me
I havening these exact communication problems with my oldest son, who is 14. It is so hard to get him to talk to my about what is going on in his life these days.
I have a no ipod/texting rule in the car. You can have a lot of conversations in the car that you would never be able to talk about anywhere else.