My First Day With Two Teenagers

My son is 14 and will be 15 in December, so I have already entered this stage...however, my daughter just turned 13 today and now it is official: I am now the mother of TWO teenagers! There are no longer any children living in my home! It's so sad! Well, not really...I enjoyed each previous stage, but it feels like time to move on now. Being the mother of babies/toddlers/preschoolers/young children/and preteens was great. I'm a bit nervous about this final stage before being the mother of two fully grown adult children...it can be a bumpy ride on the way there. But I am choosing to focus on the good times that being the mother of teenagers can bring. Yes, I am doing everything I can to prepare for the tough times, but I am putting that all on the back burner for a while without assuming it will be needed at all times. There will surely be times when I will need to deal with seriously tough issues...but there can be a lot of fun times in between, too. For today, I am focusing on all of the fun things that I hope to observe and experience as I watch my teenage son and daughter go through this stage on their way to adulthood. I want to make myself a promise: I will try to be the kind of parent that they need, I will be realistic but not pessimistic in my expectations, and I will do everything I can to document the memories of this fleeting time in their lives. Message to self: be a parent/not a friend...but have fun times together as friends sometimes do. P.S. Don't be afraid of them. They are still the same sweet people underneath the facade: love them as they are now and love them as they develop into the adults they will soon be. LOVE..no problem! Got that hands down! :)