Comment: Hot n' Cold

Ahh, tweendom. It's only just beginning at my house. Moodiness is the feeling du jour, and it goes without saying that there are great highs and deep lows. And that's just at breakfast.

What can I say? I was such an insecure kid, I don't remember much about rebelling or yelling at my mother. I'm pretty sure I never yelled at my mother. Scratch that, I KNOW I never yelled at my mother. I'm not saying I didn't give her trouble. I did. And plenty. But in the rebellion domain, that all happened once I was out of the house. I was in puberty a WHOLE lot later than most gals n' guys. I had a delayed pubescence. (That sounds graphic, doesn't it? It just means I got my period late and didn't get drunk until I went to college.)

The challenge with the tween child is not to over react, because that sends you both down the slippery slope, the dominos all fall down, etc. Be still and calm when the storm comes through. Or as they like to say, lean into it. Accept that there will be sass. And yes, there will be sass. And door slamming. And deception. And low-level scheming. All part and parcel of the gig.

My challenge is to be as chill as possible. How do you warm up for that?