‘Is a 24 year old a teenager?’ -Google

I did not know about the blogging challenge until January 21 therefore I missed the first 20 days and 20 prompts. It bugs me that I didn’t truly complete the challenge. Furthermore, it turns out I enjoy this style of writing and I would like to keep at it.

So, in a nod to the first “time traveling” prompt that set me on this journey, I am going back in time and finishing up this challenge in daily order, one month behind. So the prompt for January 1 is now my prompt for February 1. Tomorrow I will use the prompt for January 2, even though tomorrow will be February 2. Make sense?

Great. Here we go:

The advice I would give to my teenage self is the same advice I give to my three teenagers which is actually no advice. I yammer at my kids all the time, but I am not sure I ever give them advice or even say anything worthwhile beyond, “I love you,” and “Did you take your vitamin?”

My teen years weren’t the best years of my life any more than they were a total trainwreck. They were just…years.

And, as a parent, I absolutely love having teenagers (and one 12-year-old) in the house. Even when we’re bickering or irritated with each other, I just plain like it here. If anything, Jesse and I are in a low grade state of panic about what we’re going to do when they go to college. Yes, we want them to grow up and live happy, healthy lives, but it also seems like their departure into adulthood will be the death of fun for us.

It probably won’t be that drastic, but neither are the teen years. They’re not the hormonal nightmare that some would have you believe.

As I was writing this I thought maybe I was underestimating their importance, so I Googled “teen years.” The first two returns were:

• “The teen years are a time of opportunity, not turmoil.”
• “Is a 24 year old a teenager?”

Google, like advice, should be taken with a grain of salt, if at all. Thanks for reading. -Connie