teenagers – kara kentley

Today is my son’s last exam. He’s finished high school.

He worked so hard and achieved the one goal he set for himself, never losing his focus. I once told him that I was worried that he had set the bar too high. He replied, “don’t worry Mom. If it doesn’t happen, that’s okay. It was a good goal to have because it made me a better student. And win or lose, that alone made it a goal worth having.”

My son was born an old soul.

He ate breakfast in his “lucky chair” today. All through high school he claimed that chair gave him the luck he needed to get good grades or do well in sporting events or get through whatever lay ahead on any given day. He wrote his college essay about that chair. The topic was: describe a place where you feel content.

I hope they have lots of lucky chairs at college.

First Storm

You make a detailed grocery list list, get to the store two days early and beat the crowd. You have everything you could possibly need on hand including bottled water, flashlights, and batteries. You even bake cupcakes to make the storm more “fun”.

Your children watch every single “Local on the 8s” forecast for 36 hours straight and constantly check their Twitter feeds to see if school is closed.

Second Storm

You shop the day before and wait forever in line. While you are waiting, you end up buying four tabloids (because you just need to see more stars without makeup) and a copy of Real Simple that promises to finally get you organized. You get home to discover you forgot something, but oh well!

Your children watch a couple of “Local on the 8s” forecasts and constantly check their Twitter feeds to see if school is closed.

Third Storm

You don’t make a list. You stop off at the store just as the flakes start to fall and they are out of the milk you normally buy so you spend $9 on a gallon of organic milk only to get home and discover that you already had an unopened gallon of milk in the fridge. Who is going to drink all of this milk?

Your children watch one “Local on the 8s” forecast, but continue to constantly check their Twitter feeds because they are teenagers and that’s what teenagers do. Oh, and that is how they find out that school is closed.

Fourth Storm

Screw the storm! Your kids can fight it out cage match style for the last slice of bread. The power goes out. No one knows what happened to the flashlights and batteries from Storm #1. Mom has officially had enough! The dog has had enough! The kids are sick of Twitter. Everyone has had more than enough of the “Local on the 8s” and those pesky Weather Channel storm nicknames.

Fifth Storm

UGH…seriously? We have to do this again? Your form of protest: you don’t even go to the store. Good for you, you really showed them! Ramen noodles for everyone!

When is Spring going to come?!

Later that spring, you recycle that Real Simple from Storm Two. You never even opened it. So much for finally getting organized!