[SandyWeb]

<font color="blue"> Thirteen years ago this morning, I delivered my precious 8 lb. 6 oz bundle of love! I can't believe she's now a teenager! Wow! And unlike nutsy me, she is so well-rounded and gorgeous to boot!

Now....when did they say the stretch marks would go away??

Hugs,
Sandy

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[Malady156]

Happy Teening, Sandy! Hang in there, the worst is yet to come ... LOL. What I mean to say is, let's hope she STAYS well-rounded and focused on her future ... teen years can be so rocky &amp; uncertain these days. I don't think I could survive HALF of what my kids are going through if I was a teen today.

[SeptemberMorn]

OMG, Sandy! Brace yourself! LOL Only one of my four kids gave me a rough time during his teen years. In fact, I think he's still a teen ager, mentally. They think they know it all and mom and dad are so outdated, they wonder how we made it. LOL

WHAT I LEARNED FROM RAISING FOUR TEENAGERS: (may or may not apply to you) Remember the time has come for your daughter to accert her independance and she's desperately looking for who SHE is apart from you. Don't hold the reins too tight, or she'll bolt. Allow her a certain amount of mistakes on her own but never forget to ask her what SHE learned from the experience.

CONRATULATIONS and Good Luck!

[ktp]

Sandy:

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! Oh teenagers...I feel for you and I'm only a couple of years behind ya, so keep me posted! My daughter is 11 1/2 and she's already a hormone-fueled *****ing machine. LOL. Just like mom.

I'm still waiting for my stretch marks to go away too! Actually, I don't even call them stretch marks anymore, I call them "battle scars". LOL....Makes you feel a little more proud. Well, does me anyway.

Happy birthday to your beautiful daughter. May she be blessed with joy, true happiness and good life.

Take Care,
Kimberly.

[Kayleigh]

I don't know about asking her what she learned from it, I always took that to be a way of rubbing a decision I made in my face. Like a "see, I told you so" sort of thing. I learned from my mistakes even though I never said a word of it to anyone else. Also, never assume that just because you have a teenager means that you have a rebel. I hated being treated like that. It really became a self-fufilling prophacy, because I was treated like a rebel before I was even doing anything wrong. I hadn't even done ANYTHING as far as I know, and a week after I turned 13 I got a "cut out this teen rebel b.s." lecture. So when I finally started really messing up, it made no difference. I never felt like I was trusted with all the restrictions I had, anyway. and now I'm having trouble passing my classes in college. But don't worry, most kids turn out better than I did (or will, I don't think I'm done turning out yet, but the outlook's not so good) Sounds like you have a good kid on your hands, though. Don't ever ever take her for granted, and do everything you can to keep her from being like me! Good luck with the parenting thing, I hear it's hard work! (and for what it's worth, even though I've been a crappy teenager to raise, my mom still says it's easier to take care of a moody teen than a needy infant/toddler)

[wisewoman]

This is for Kayleigh, Lighten up on yourself dear. Teens go through so much tugging and pushing it's like a Reader's Digest condensed book with all of the decisions and growth we expect from them. Teenagers very often, I hope, still have their idealism that changes the world. Teenagers have a different lense to peek out of more often then grown ups who tend to see things more black and white. Being a teen is darned hard work and I am so glad I don't have to do that again. But what a nice time too. I still have 2 teens and I love that my youngest could come to us last night and make us laugh hysterically about wrestling with a boy's team and female anatomy. I love that she can come lay with us and read and absorb comfort that way. She is a senior in high school. I love the way my other teen can tell her dad her male problems with bf and he helps her. Oh, You were not and are not a bad kid and you will do what you chose. If you are feeling like you are failing school, stop! Take time and figure out your head and go to school when you are ready. I was not at all ready and I feel like I would have learned more had I been a bit more mature and engaged in what I was doing. Took me a long time to pay off student loans just so I could say I had a degree. You can be anything you want. The world is wide open and I know you don't see that. You can love and nurture yourself and trust that that wonderful heart and soul of your will lead you down the right path because you are doing it for you and no one else. You are a good kid, take heart. By the way, I did some pretty dumb stuff when I was a teen, and older, and still and......