The serious and funny ventures of parenting teens

You may have seen this guy on the blog. This is my 15 year old son. My high school freshman. My heart and soul. He’s funny, aloof, loving, loud, quiet, shy, outspoken, reserved. All of it. What is he not? Mean-spirited, disrespectful, aggressive, impulsive. Thank the heavens above I have not had to deal with violence or drugs (times are so crazy now). Has he said a few teen things? Sure. Does he get a little extra sometimes? A lot. Does he dislike school work? Oh goodness, yes. Those are things I can handle. He’s coming into his own. And as the woman in his life, I’ve learned that how I handle his growing pains will influence the kind of man he is becoming. Have I been perfect? Of course not. No matter how great we think we are and the amount of sacrifices we’ve lost count of, we screwed up somewhere. I have many old school Latina parenting views that have left my son confused at times. We’ve had quite a bit of multicultural moments that required a lot of talking, listening, acceptance and understanding. I elaborate more on raising a bicultural child in this article. When it comes to parenting, no matter the twists and turns, we are all learning along the way.

It’s also important to laugh along the way. To make light of the “Latina mom logic”, my son and I watched a ton of Vine parodies about Latino families that had us in tears with laughter. I recently wrote 5 things that LeJuan James taught my son about his mom because the videos pretty much sums what goes down in this household. I’ll admit that I was elated to see that he kind of got it once he saw these vines. Mom’s view points are actually lot more common than he thought and not as illogical as perhaps he’s been told by those who have no idea what a chancla is.

Gap Pique Polo and Lived In Khakis, Puma Suede Classics

Like I said in this article – Raising a teen is harder than it looks – It’s a delicate journey that requires a lot of patience and listening. Times are a lot different than when I was a kid. On one hand, the universe is going through a spiritual shift. On the other, conflict in our country is on the rise. If you’re not talking to your teens enough, now is the time to start. Even if they don’t appear to be listening. It’s a matter of just showing up and letting them know you’re there – no matter your parenting style. This applies to all cultures and walks of life. But most of all, have fun with it. I find that my son and I bond the most when we’re watching silly shows, eating a sub and poking fun at one another once in a while.

P.S. I can’t believe this what just two years ago. Time flies.