Tag: Teenagers
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I Should Have Packed The Wine
‘You’re the one that I want…’ the old man sang to me when I got up this morning. A sincere effort, I believe, to calm the storms that have inevitably begun to build up as we get ready to move. He’s been in a suspiciously good mood all week which he has tried to disguise…
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Crap Parent Therapy: ‘Consulting’ Rather Than ‘Enabling’
I had to go back for a session of ‘crap parent therapy’ last week, tail between my legs, following another situation with Kurt where the parenting shit hit the fan and the old man and I found ourselves sucked into another potential vacuum of despair. Patiently, the therapist reminded me for the umpteenth time about the…
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The Fashion Mistakes Teenagers Need To Make
We’ve been through a lot of stuff with our son Kurt, as many of you know, and I can’t deny that there have been occasions when I’ve felt a tad wistful as I’ve walked down the street and spotted groups of clean-shaven, preppy-looking boys in their Polo shirts and boating shoes. The weight of loss…
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When Your Child Has Mental Health Issues and You Want To Use The Get Out Of Jail Card
I’m tired of this particular journey. Self-absorbed I know, but there I said it. No “parent of the year” award for me; I’m the parent who loves her child but is tired of this arduous journey at his side. I’m tired of not sleeping, the stomach pains, the disagreements about the best way to raise…
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The Curse Of Anxiety, Dogs and Teenage Commitment
The dog has decided to upstage the rest of the family in the anxiety stakes. I am reliably informed that part of her condition can be blamed on her Poodle heritage, in which separation anxiety is a common issue, but the other part is either a question of osmosis ie. living with us, or a…
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Parenting, Anxiety and Leaving Your Kids Home Alone For The First Time
Digest for a while this great little article about Helicopter versus Hands Off Parenting and deduce where you think I sit in this conversation. Watch the video below at the end of the post. This question has become a bit more sensitive recently because I’m trying to keep the fact that we’re leaving our kids…
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The Best 28 Reasons To Leave Town When Teenage Boys Are On School Holidays
1.It will rain. 2.Because it will rain, the lingering smell of boy germs will be impossible to eradicate because teenage boys don’t process the word ‘deodorant’. Occasionally, this odour is diluted by what you swear is the smell of illicit smoking from out of their bedroom window. 3.First trip to the ER – when son’s…
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Do You Ever Stop Worrying About Your Children?
In the week that NC has achieved another milestone by passing her driving test, Kurt’s dangerous enthusiasm for life has escalated to a new hair-greying level. A text with ‘I’m all G’ doesn’t quite cut it at ten o’clock the morning after a sleepless work night spent waiting for the reassuring sound of your teenager’s…
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Entitled Gen Y And ‘No Dinner For Me, Thanks!’
It’s such a relief to reach Friday night and know that it’s take-out tonight. We’re going through this stage with Kurt and NC at the moment, as they transition between wanting to live at home and us wanting them to fly the nest, where we’re never quite sure how many we’re cooking for. All we…
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The True Test Of Parenting Is Unconditional Love
We had an impromptu visit last night from one of Kurt’s friends. This boy’s last impromptu visit was on Christmas Day, and this impromptu visit was to apologise for it. This friend of Kurt’s is a bird with broken wings who makes my heart bleed at an haemophiliac rate. He bought with him a bottle…
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30 Fascinating Things I Realised In 2015
Whenever I think I’ve finally reached rock bottom, I can always rely on my teenagers to up the ante. The word ‘meringue’ springs to mind whenever I wear a cream dress. I need stop at one whisky. All diets are lies. The upside to being ‘invisible’ is not giving a shit about what I look…
LOUISA SIMMONDS 