Daniel turned 13 since the last time I posted, so now I have 2 teens! To be completely honest, having teenagers is what made me most afraid to become a parent. I waited a long time before deciding to finally have children, and that was a big part of it! I know I wasn’t nice to be around as a teen, and I dreaded having to manage all that. My first teen has been taking it easy on me. And now there are 2. To be fair, my son has always been one to challenge!
Now that he’s 13, he has officially gotten taller than me. I’m now the shortest human in my house, and that is a very strange experience. I still sometimes offer to reach for something on a high shelf for one of my kids before realizing that I should be asking them for help!
Some of the typically teen things I’m seeing from Daniel…
- He eats way more than I can keep up with.
- He has been going through a “workout” phase where he wants to do lots of pushups, pullups, and situps and spend a lot of time at the gym.
- He has a particular hairstyle that he maintains with a lot of swooping and swishing, crunching and curling.
- He is outgrowing shoes every few months, and has much bigger feet than I do now.
- He is definitely rebellious and disobedient. He does NOT like to be told what to do. Unfortunately, I love to tell him what to do, so that’s kind of an issue.
- He wants to constantly wear ear buds and listen to music or podcasts in them.
- He is way too interested in video and computer games.
However, here are some teen things he has NOT succumbed to……
- He does not smell bad.
- He does not have a messy room. In fact, he has recently cleaned it out so well that it’s nearly empty!
- He does not have to be told to do his homework and is making really good grades.
- He LOVES puppies and kittens and is so helpful when we volunteer with our favorite animal sanctuary.
- He does not like to hang out alone in his room and is constantly finding someone to talk to.
- He is not good at texting or calling people and often misplaces his phone.
- He’s really good at going to sleep at night and still loves to wake up early!
- He’s a great cook, and will do it pretty much anytime! He even perfected a fried chicken recipe for his favorite teacher.
Daniel is extremely intelligent, sometimes too much for his own good. He loves to argue, often WAY too much for his own good. He loves computer keyboards and mice. He has used his money to purchase MANY of these for himself just so he can hear them make clicking sounds! He does a great job training our dog, Angel, and can spend hours with her showing her new tricks or obstacle courses. He still adores his big sister, although he will NEVER admit it. He also tries very hard to annoy her, and is most always successful. We can now watch some of my favorite movies and TV shows together, and I love that he actually likes my favorites! He’s into action/adventure movies and anime, but he also loves rom coms and comedies of all kinds. He can get very emotional and enjoy dramas too. He loves to pose and make funny and dramatic faces. He just learned how to whistle and does it CONSTANTLY!! His favorite shoes are Jordans and he has become ultra fixated on getting these and keeping them looking white and new. He is still playing soccer, although he’s wanting to play basketball now.
He’s been at a new school which is VERY academically rigorous and is doing an AMAZING job of keeping up with his work on his own and is making excellent grades. Even though he’s truly enjoying his teachers and some things about the school, he really wants to go to a school with more kids and lots of sports, so we’re working on that for next year! My hope is that Daniel’s extreme independence, passion, and debate skills will serve him well someday. Until then, I’m hanging on tight and trying to enjoy the wild ride!
Parenting is teaching me that we never know how things will turn out. We think we understand how to be a good parent, but it’s really more about how to be a good parent FOR THIS PARTICULAR KID. Daniel and I are not alike, and I have trouble understanding him. My daughter is the opposite. We are so alike that I sometimes have to stop and remember that we are not the exact same person. With Daniel, I have to stop so often and recognize that I just don’t get it. His motivations and reactions are SO different from mine. We have to communicate carefully, and I often have to backtrack and try something different. But I never get bored, and I’m grateful to be learning and developing new skills everyday. I am so proud of this kid and look forward to what comes next.
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