Mischevious Neighbors

My daughter and her friend were outside the other night when some new neighborhood teens approached them. They talked a bit, then one of the new girls suggested that they play a game. When they asked what kind of game, the answer was "Ding Dong Ditch." My naive daughter and her friend didn't know what they were talking about--these new girls said to watch them. These new girls rang the doorbell of a neighbor and ran away. They ran toward my daughter and her friend, and they all ran together to hide. My daughter and her friend said that they were scared and didn't know what to do. When the neighbor whose doorbell was rung confronted the girls, they all began pointing fingers at each other. They ALL were in trouble even though only some of them participated--a perfect opportunity to teach "guilt by association." I told my daughter--once she ran, she was lumped into the group of trouble makers. If she had separated herself from the group, came home, or even talked to the neighbor about what happened instead of running--if she had avoided joining the group, she would be considered innocent. By joining a group--even if only some of the group is participating--they ALL will be blamed. Thankfully, this issue was minor--but it did bring to the forefront all of the possible situations my teens may face in the future. One big one: a group of teens hanging out--one or a few do something illegal--the police come--the entire group is blamed/arrrested/suffer the consequences--GUILT BY ASSOCIATION--its a HUGE thing for teens because their peers mean so much to them. They HAVE to learn to stand up for themselves and NOT follow the crowd--especially when they are being pressured to do something wrong. I HOPE my teens get this message--I am glad it was a SMALL issue that brought the subject into our lives and I HOPE we don't ever have to deal with a bigger, more serious version of this life lesson. Parenting teenagers is TOUGH!!

Teens and Cars

This actually is about what I drive, not what my teens drive--at least for now. We have had our minivan for 9 years now. It has a LOT of miles on it, has many things wrong with it, and is on its "last leg." I have grown tired of the minivan--it was my "soccer mom" vehicle and we have all outgrown it. I dream of driving a red convertible Mustang one day soon! :) When it comes to my teenagers, they will soon enter the driving years, and they HATE the idea of driving a minivan!! It reminds me of MY teens--when my Toyota Celica was broken down, I had to drive my parents station wagon!! My son would love to learn to drive on a Mustang. If and when he gets his own car, he would like an older sportscar--maybe an older Mustang. My daughter loves the new Volkswagon Beetle. Our family's future in the world of cars is about to change drastically--I don't think there is another minivan or an SUV in our future. Now we are moving into the "cool car stage." But it sure is hard to be happy in our old minivan while we wait! :)

Free Frosty Coupon

My daughter had received a coupon for a free Wendy's Frosty on Halloween, so today we went to redeem it. The look on her face when she saw the tiny cup was priceless! :) The coupon clearly states that the free Frosty is only 6 ounces, but the drawing implies that it is a normal small size. My daughter must have expected it to be much larger--she laughed loudly when she was handed this tiny little cup! :) Still--free is free, and she said it was good--but then she wanted to BUY one that was a TRUE small size. I let her buy a 99 cent small one--it was MUCH larger than her tiny free one. It reminded me of Baskin-Robbins free tastings--most people end up buying a cone after tasting a tiny bit. So the free Frosty reeled us in and got us to make a purchase--good marketing, Wendy's! :)

Thursday Night Tag Team

My son has meetings every Thursday night with one of his clubs from high school. These meetings usually run from about 6:30 to 9:30 pm--he needs a ride to and from these meetings every Thursday night. His Dad and I both like to watch our favorite shows on Thursday night and have figured out a good way for us to watch our shows and provide rides for our son. I drop him off at 6:30 and return home--we eat dinner--I watch "Ugly Betty" and he watches "Survivor"--he leaves to pick our son up--I watch "Grey's Anatomy." Eveyone gets to see their favorite shows, our son gets his rides, and everyone is happy. Our "tag team"--I drop off, you pick up--works well for us--we do this on other days as well. Still, I find myself really looking forward to the day that our son can drive himself to and from these places! :)

Shopping at Staples

My daughter and I went to Staples to buy supplies for printing our digital photos. Stores like this are almost like candy stores to us--we always see lots of things we would love to have. First we looked at photo and scrapbooking supplies, then we looked at digital cameras and printers. Next, we moved on to cell phones, PDAs, computers, and other technology. So many things to buy--so little money! :( We traded our old ink cartridges for new ones ($3.00 off for each), bought the least expensive photo paper we could find, and checked out. Maybe one day we can purchase some of these things that we drool over--until then, we can look at them every now and then at Staples and dream of one day owning them ourselves. If only "The Easy Button" applied to financial issues, we'd be great! :)

Halloween With Teens pt. 2

My son attended several events with his clubs from school where he passed out candy to children and helped with fall festivals and other events. He brought home these candy bags and shared some leftover candy with his sister. They also refilled them with more candy when they helped the neighborhood kids at our block party and Trick-or-Treating. Later they sorted it all out and tossed aside the rejects (things they didn't like)--they gave some of that candy to some neighborhood kids. And I have to admit--I did sneak of few things for myself, too! :) I guess everyone likes candy, no matter how old they are! :) So my teens participated in Halloween this year--but I don't know how things will be once we move. This may be their last time--it will be their last time in this neighborhood. It's been fun and we will miss it, but we look forward to doing some new and different things in the future. Happy Halloween! :)

Halloween With Teens

My daughter is 13 and my son is almost 15, so I didn't think Halloween would be a big deal with us this year. I was wrong! In our neighborhood, there are many teenagers that continue to wear costumes and help the smaller children as they walk around the neighborhood Trick-or-Treating. There is a neighborhood block party where everyone gathers beforehand--there is food, candy, games, etc. My teens wore costumes and helped the kids at the block party, then they walked around the neighborhood with some of them. After all of that, you think they are going to come home empty-handed? No way! They both brought home some candy--almost as much as when they were younger. Apparently, our neighbors welcome the teens' help and reward them with treats for their services.

This is very different from when I was a teenager--I distinctly remember my last time to go Trick-or-Treating. I was 12 and my best friend was 13. We both dressed up as members of the band KISS. We were met with the same response at every house we approached--"Aren't you girls a bit old to be Trick-or-Treating?" Of course, my friend was much more developed than I was and she truly looked like a grown woman parading around asking for candy--but still, were we too old, really? I tell my teens about this story every year--they shrug it off and still go out on Halloween night--I think our neighborhood attitude and events are quite different than when I was their age and that makes a big difference. Still, I keep thinking--I wonder if they will want costumes this year and if they will go out or stay in and pass out candy--and every year they say that they will stay home but end up going out because their friends do. I wonder if this will change when we move--we will probably be living in an apartment, so that will make a difference, too. I THINK, though I don't know, but I THINK that THIS year was truly our very last Halloween where my teens wear costumes and go Trick-or-Treating (helping kids or not)--but I could be wrong! :) We've already said goodbye to most of our seasonal and holiday traditions from their childhood--this seems to be the last one to go. At first I was sad and missed the "good old days"--now I am truly ready for a completely new way of doing things. I welcome change--bring it on! :)