Shock and Awe
'Bothers' is what she calls them. My daughter has not one, but three adorable brothers, through no fault of her own. They were agreeable to her, until they stopped agreeing to listen. As an older sister with one 'bother' of my own, I suffered the same fate, albeit technically less illicit!
As a teenager, privacy is paramount. Personal belongings are not to be touched and brothers should never embarrass their sisters. To my teen daughter, brothers are merely potential protectors or suitable for their cuteness factor, posted by mom on Instagram. Beyond that, they exist as bothers!
Shock and awe are my daughter's conflicting feelings living with her 'bothers' on a daily basis. (We as parents of a teenage girl are astutely aware of this seismic shift amplified in our home.) My 7-year-old relishes in his sister's attention the most and unfortunately 'shock and awe' seem to be his middle names. My daughter recently reacted to this social media posting, "Awe, how can he be so cute?"
Shockingly, with my 'prim and proper' mother visiting, a shrill scream was the last thing I expected to hear from my daughter as she returned home from her first day of high school. My four children were laughing hysterically as my daughter rushed up to show me her phone. Apparently they already managed a sneak peak of the acquired intelligence... "Mom, just look at what my brother took a selfie of on my phone for my friends to see," my daughter shrieked! I braced myself, careful to choose an appropriate parenting response in front of grandma. "AHHHH, my goodness, it's not as big as he thinks," was my first reaction to a very inappropriate portrait of a penis! I couldn't un-visualize the image as I quickly seized the iPhone and deleted any remnants of the grinning mischievous child yanking his pants down while holding his big sister's phone. Realizing that my reaction may scar him for life, I retorted "that is not ok and you will have a consequence, I just need to decide how big, I mean how severe." OMG! While my husband is often conveniently at work for these hair-graying moments, I'm not convinced his reaction would've been more appropriate.
My younger brother pulled some awfully embarrassing pranks on me as a teenager, including telling my boyfriend that I couldn't come to the phone because I was on the throne. This would likely be one of those scarring, unforgettable memories for my daughter, however borderline illegal. Luckily my mother was a good sport, experiencing a rare moment of speechlessness, while she desperately attempted to contain her laughter.
I found myself in a premature conversation concerning 'dick pics' with my children, using adult terms to explain the meaning of 'sexting', the ramifications of inappropriate Internet pictures, while racking my brain for an impactful consequence. I even phoned a long-distance friend for advice, although insanity prevailed and we digressed in fits of laughter, becoming equally fixated on hilarious consequences sure to land us all in years of therapy. Parenting can be the toughest job on the planet!
My daughter and I embarked on a sightseeing adventure in the Columbia Gorge the next day, with grandma and 'bothers' in tow, as I proudly determined the consequence with the biggest immediate impact on my daring 7-year-old. I chose to allow all my children, with the exception of my youngest, screen time over conversation and scenery during our 1.5-hour car ride. He whined and cried, but soon realized that I took away access to what caused the dilemma in the first place, and fortunately, we haven't experienced an indecent exposure since!
Every cloud has a silver lining; while not the typical 'back-to-school picture' my daughter was expecting, I choose to believe that my 7-year-old was protecting her from more dangerous predators in high school, unbeknownst to us all. A safe learning lesson at home and potential tragedy averted! Awe...
As a teenager, privacy is paramount. Personal belongings are not to be touched and brothers should never embarrass their sisters. To my teen daughter, brothers are merely potential protectors or suitable for their cuteness factor, posted by mom on Instagram. Beyond that, they exist as bothers!
Shock and awe are my daughter's conflicting feelings living with her 'bothers' on a daily basis. (We as parents of a teenage girl are astutely aware of this seismic shift amplified in our home.) My 7-year-old relishes in his sister's attention the most and unfortunately 'shock and awe' seem to be his middle names. My daughter recently reacted to this social media posting, "Awe, how can he be so cute?"
Shockingly, with my 'prim and proper' mother visiting, a shrill scream was the last thing I expected to hear from my daughter as she returned home from her first day of high school. My four children were laughing hysterically as my daughter rushed up to show me her phone. Apparently they already managed a sneak peak of the acquired intelligence... "Mom, just look at what my brother took a selfie of on my phone for my friends to see," my daughter shrieked! I braced myself, careful to choose an appropriate parenting response in front of grandma. "AHHHH, my goodness, it's not as big as he thinks," was my first reaction to a very inappropriate portrait of a penis! I couldn't un-visualize the image as I quickly seized the iPhone and deleted any remnants of the grinning mischievous child yanking his pants down while holding his big sister's phone. Realizing that my reaction may scar him for life, I retorted "that is not ok and you will have a consequence, I just need to decide how big, I mean how severe." OMG! While my husband is often conveniently at work for these hair-graying moments, I'm not convinced his reaction would've been more appropriate.
My younger brother pulled some awfully embarrassing pranks on me as a teenager, including telling my boyfriend that I couldn't come to the phone because I was on the throne. This would likely be one of those scarring, unforgettable memories for my daughter, however borderline illegal. Luckily my mother was a good sport, experiencing a rare moment of speechlessness, while she desperately attempted to contain her laughter.
I found myself in a premature conversation concerning 'dick pics' with my children, using adult terms to explain the meaning of 'sexting', the ramifications of inappropriate Internet pictures, while racking my brain for an impactful consequence. I even phoned a long-distance friend for advice, although insanity prevailed and we digressed in fits of laughter, becoming equally fixated on hilarious consequences sure to land us all in years of therapy. Parenting can be the toughest job on the planet!
My daughter and I embarked on a sightseeing adventure in the Columbia Gorge the next day, with grandma and 'bothers' in tow, as I proudly determined the consequence with the biggest immediate impact on my daring 7-year-old. I chose to allow all my children, with the exception of my youngest, screen time over conversation and scenery during our 1.5-hour car ride. He whined and cried, but soon realized that I took away access to what caused the dilemma in the first place, and fortunately, we haven't experienced an indecent exposure since!
Every cloud has a silver lining; while not the typical 'back-to-school picture' my daughter was expecting, I choose to believe that my 7-year-old was protecting her from more dangerous predators in high school, unbeknownst to us all. A safe learning lesson at home and potential tragedy averted! Awe...
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