My oldest daughter has been 16 years old for almost a year now and it feels more like a decade. I know what you are thinking: "aren't all teenage years difficult?," and yes you are correct. Though if you have a child that is 16 there is a whole new set of difficulties that appear, and you become a whole new kind of crazy! Up to now you probably thought these crazy teenage years were just a phase and eventually you would get your sweet child back, at 16 you decide it may be something you have to live with forever. There are plenty of ways to recognize a fellow teenage mother you may run into ,and if you can't tell here are some signs that might give it away.
1. You are well into your 30's and you know (but wish you didn't) too many songs that make no sense.
I am sure a lot of my music stinks, but at least I don't have to google the lyrics to find out what I am singing. After googling the lyrics I am wishing I didn't know the words to the song! I often in my head am wishing the radio would stop as we are driving anywhere!
2. I find myself aimlessly wandering around clothing stores with a shocked look on my face.
I know I am not the only mom who has picked up a dress thinking it was a shirt! Seriously, where did they put the rest of the material and can we please have it back!?
3. You watch a funny, yet questionable movie, and resist the urge to cover your child's eyes.
OK, yes I know she is 16 and she has probably seen worse than what we are watching, but mom reactions are strong! It's hard to fight the urge to still think of her as a little girl who needs to be protected from such filth I find hilarious!
4. She wants to buy her bras from a store you haven't set foot into in 15 years.
My daughter thinks her bras should always come from Victoria's Secret, when I am lucky to get a new one from WalMart every 5 years! I never thought I would be shopping in that store with my little baby girl, it makes me cry! Not to mention they haven't sold my size in 15 years, that is just cruel!
5. They ask for a piercing and are surprised that you seem horrified by this request.
6. But you find yourself not only giving in but thinking it would be great to do it together.
OK, I am not completely proud that I am now an old woman with a nose piercing to match her daughter's! However, I am completely proud I did it without passing out or crying.
7. Every store that sells wine near me knows me by name.
Sure, all moms have days where we may need a glass or two to get by! No judging, we have all seen each other in the wine aisle looking for the cheapest, pinkest wine hoping no one else notices we are in our sweatpants and we have no makeup on!!
8. That time of the month is even more, FUN!
Yes, as you can only imagine two girls going through all of this at the same time is no walk in the park. When I start to hear how she has it so much worse I swear I want to run away for a few weeks!!
9. School, boys, life, I know nothing! So why does she insist on asking me things?!
The most important thing I have learned since I became the mother of a teenager is, I know NOTHING! I have never lived life so how could I possibly know what she is going through? No, I have never had a high school boyfriend, what's that like? Mean teachers, what is that? I am told everything but anything that comes out of my mouth is completely wrong and how dare I say I understand!
10. I am and always will me the source of all her embarrassment!
OK, basically I am like most moms, I am so far from as cool as I think I am! Why can't she let me think I am cool just a few times, I don't think I am asking too much?!
After a year I have decided one day she will be that sweet girl that needs me and I will never be that cool mom I wish I could be. I will just sit back here with all the other mothers of teenagers, something pink and bubbly in my hand, shaking my head and wondering how I got into all this!!
