Heaven help me, I have a combined eight teens in the house tonight, two
\nhigh schoolers and six middle schoolers, with a breakdown of 5 girls to
\nthree boys, YIKES!<\/p>\n
I am a very protective, well probably over protective parent. I was
\nalways trying to protect the girls from getting hurt as kids. Cindy
\nwould have to make me go away and let them play otherwise I would force
\nthem to sit quietly and not do anything “dangerous” that might get them
\nhurt. We had plastic outlet covers on every outlet, and door locks on
\nevery cabinet. It was terrible trying to teach them to ride a bike, I
\nwas terrified they might fall and get hurt, and cry. My natural
\ninstincts were too strong. If it were up to me the girls would have
\nspent all their days quietly sitting in a softly padded room with no
\nsharp corners. <\/p>\n
I eventually was able to let the girls go out and have fun, doing
\ndangerous things like playing on the swing set, and riding their bikes
\nwithout training wheels. But to do that I had to turn off my natural
\nprotective (or over protective) instincts. And that is my problem. I
\nhave a hard time dealing with trying to protect the girls and at the
\nsame time allow them to make mistakes and potentially hurt themselves.<\/p>\n
So I sit here carefully listening to the conversations, well it’s not
\nreally conversation, it’s more a cacophony of raised voices, currently
\nall screaming in unison. I figure as long as everyone is yelling at
\neach other nothing “bad” is happening.<\/p>\n
And as I listen to the awkwardness of these young teens as they try to
\nfigure out how to act around teens of the opposite sex, I realize my
\nown feelings of awkwardness as I try to figure out how to act as a
\nsingle 40 something person after 20 some years as part of a couple.<\/p>\n
Perhaps I’m overly protective of myself. Too afraid that I may hurt
\nmyself, or at the least afraid that I may act in a way that may
\nembarrass me. That I will make a mistake.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Heaven help me, I have a combined eight teens in the house tonight, two high schoolers and six middle schoolers, with a breakdown of 5 girls to three boys, YIKES! I am a very protective, well probably over protective parent. … Continue reading