Raising a Teenager is Hard, Y'all

I know, I know. Two blog posts in one day...it's almost unheard of. While I do want to blog about my life and day to day stuff, I also want to create posts that address different topics regularly. I plan to be as open and honest as possible, sometimes maybe brutally so. I hope that by sharing my story and hopefully some good insights, I can inspire or lift up just one person like some of the bloggers that I read have done for me.

I was having a hard time trying to decide which topic to tackle first, but this one just sort of fell into my lap today so thought I would start here. Teenagers are rough, y'all! I have a feeling that I am not alone in this. Lol

I have a 13 year old girl. Yes, I have "a horrible, terrible, no good, very bad" teenage girl. She is everything that I was as a child...times ten, and I am not exaggerating. I think I am getting punished for her uncle and her Daddy! The eye rolling and door slamming and back talking are pretty much an every day occurrence these days (and yes, sometimes it IS me). It drives me nuts! I mean, I was expecting the teenage years to be bad but man! lol

I love her to death, but she is drama personified. It doesn't take much to set her off and today was one of those days. She came home from school in a foul mood and immediately began taking it out on me. I saw a Sheila Walsh sermon a couple of months ago where she basically said that hurt people strike out at those closest to them because they can. They know we will love them no matter what. While I know that in my head, it doesn't make the hurts any easier or the slights go away. I struggle every day with trying to be a good example to her and giving grace, but it's not easy.

She knows exactly which buttons to push and boy howdy, does she! Most of the time these days, her dagger of choice is to threaten to move out and go live with her Dad. I never had that kind of option as a kid because my parents, God bless them, have been together forever! But, I guess for this generation, it is an occurrence more often than not. It is definitely heartbreaking to hear that your child would rather live with someone else than stay under your roof, but I also know that it is mostly the rebelliousness talking.  I've come close a couple of times to packing her bags for her, but I know deep down that is not in her best interest. 

Raising a teenager is tough. They are so beautiful, strong and independent and yet so naive, willful and disobedient at times. I love my girl with all my heart and even though days like today are rough, it's my job. I am her parent, her protector and her cheerleader. I will always support her no matter what. It may not always be what she would like, but I am always going to be her Mom. 

One day, I hope she will see how much I love her. One day, I hope that she can recognize that I have rules for a reason. One day, I hope that she will thank me for being her mom. Then maybe we will become friends. 

Until then...there is always wine!

Thanks for stopping by,

KT 

It's me again...

Good morning y'all. It has been a crazy week of ups and downs. There have definitely been some highs and lows around the Weas household.

Skylar had an amazing opportunity on Saturday to audition for the Berkeley Center for the Arts. It is an arts focused high school located on the Goose Creek High School campus. She had auditions for both theater and voice. She had to perform two musical selections and then recite 2 monologues. She chose Phantom of the Opera as one of her pieces and was assigned a scene from The Glass Menagerie for the other. I thought she practiced really well, but I didn't get to actually watch the auditions. She was very nervous because this was her first time on stage for an actual audition, but we are keeping our fingers crossed. If she gets in, this is where she will complete her high school degree. It will allow her to focus on her love of performing. It will be a big change for all of us, but I am hoping that if she enjoys school more that she will buckle down... that is for another post however. I am so very proud of her but I am kind of sad that if she makes it, she won't go to Dear Old Berkeley High. Wait a minute, maybe that is a GOOD thing! lol

The obligatory selfie. Twins!

Who is this beautiful grown up girl???

While we were at the auditions on Saturday morning, Mom and Dad took the other two kids to Cypress Gardens where Peyton succumbed to the stomach bug that we have been passing around. Poor thing never gets sick and she has NEVER thrown up before. She was pretty traumatized by the whole thing and honestly didn't know what was happening. She did not eat for three days because she was afraid that she would get sick again. It was so pitiful. Makes me very thankful for how healthy she has always been, and I can't wait to banish this bug for good! (Mom came down with it on Monday and Matt had it yesterday. It is a nasty one!)

Poor thing sacked out on the couch. She slept most of day.

 

After her first taste of Pepto. LMAO

Brayden is doing well. He is really good at baseball and seems to be enjoying himself. We are struggling a bit with attitude, but we are working on it. I have been trying a combination of essential oils on his feet every morning in hopes that it will help with his ADHD. He grumbles about the smell but always submits his feet willingly. I have a feeling he believes that it is helping even though he would never admit it. lol Stubborn Man Child!

Me and my boy and the Carolina sunset

I have not been doing a lot with KTbug Creations lately but I really need to get back to it. Look for some new offerings on the FB page soon! Lately, I have been having some fun with creative play that is just for me. Mom and I are taking the Lifebook online course again this year, and I have managed to do several of the lessons so far. They have been amazing! I can't wait to dive into this week's and show you the project. It is one of Juliette Crane's owls and everyone knows how much I love owls!!! Juliette is amazing as well!

My favorite thing that I have been doing is "Bible Art Journaling". It is one of the "new things" right now and it seemed to be right up my alley. I could study God's Word and play with art supplies...what could be better??? lol I was terrified, at first, because I couldn't get past the fact that "this was a BIBLE!" It took me a very long time to make the first mark in it. I had to convince myself that art journaling was the whole reason I purchased this specific journaling bible and that it would be okay. I love the lion page below, but I think my style is more like the second one. I had a hard time coloring over the words even though for the most part, you can still read them. I will probably stick within the margins on most of my pages. I am a "liner-upper" like that. lol It is fun though to read through the Word and spend time thinking about how to illustrate specific text. It has really helped me to be able to make time in my day to spend with God. I am still trying to convince Skylar that she should join me. She is highly offended that I am "defacing the Word of God" but I think she will come around. 

If you are interested in learning more, Rebekah Jones has free lessons every week and she is amazing. You can find them here: Bible Art Journaling Challenge

Thanks for stopping by!!!

KT

Wow!!! Catching up on a year and a half

So hard to believe that it has been a year and a half since I last blogged. I have been reading a lot of blogs lately and feeling the pull to get back into it. So...hopefully this will be the first post of many. I haven't decided whether I want to continue on with this one or start fresh. On the one hand, it feels like that chapter has been closed but on the other, I am still "re-adjusting my sails" as it were. I think that I will start here so that I can at least get the ball rolling. As my life grows and my focus changes, I may look at beginning a new one but for now, you can find me right here. :-)

To catch everyone (at least I hope there will be a few readers, lol) up on the last year and a half, my divorce was final in April of 2014. It was tough but I got through it. Matt actually got remarried two weekends ago and I wish them well. It was definitely a rough day for me but it gave me a lot of closure so that is good.

The kids are all doing well. Skylar is 13 now and definitely the typical teenager. Eye rolls, smart mouth and locked doors seem to be the norm in my house. Oh, to be that age again... Honestly, you couldn't pay me! lol She is working hard on getting her grades up though. She started softball last week and is doing well there. She also has two auditions this Saturday for the Berkeley Center of the Arts. It is an alternative type of high school where they place the focus on the arts. We are very proud of her and are keeping our fingers crossed.

Brayden is 10 and typical boy. You will find him playing video games more often than not, although we force him to go outside as often as possible. lol He still struggles with his ADHD but we have been very lucky to have teachers that understand and accommodate. He has been in the Gifted and Talented program for the last two years and seems to be doing well. He even joined an engineering club that meets after school on Fridays. Their first project is to build a bridge out of toothpicks just like I did in the 6th grade. He is so excited about it and it is nice to see him get involved in something at school. He also started baseball last week and I can see a lot of improvement. I enjoy watching him play and can't wait for the season to start.

Then, there is Peyton. She is still our little Spitfire. You never know what you are going to get with her. She loves to be helpful and is always doing little things like setting the table, helping with dinner or making drinks for everyone. She can turn the attitude on just as quickly however so you have to be careful with your words. Some days it is just a struggle all around. She is very loving though and so smart. She loves to do her school work. In fact, as soon as she gets home from school, she is getting out her homework and getting started. She takes pride in getting her work done and loves when she gets good grades. I love to watch how her mind works. She is always thinking/calculating. One of our neighbors likes to say that "She is either going to set the world on fire or burn it down." lol She is not playing ball this season. Not sure what turned her off to softball but I am hoping one day she will change her mind. She has such potential. For now though, she is content to play with her friends and idolize her older siblings.

As for me, I am plugging along. I am still at MUSC and love my job and my coworkers. I started a "handmadie" business last year called KTbug Creations and have done really well with that. I also joined a community group through Freedom Church and have met some of the most fabulous women that I am proud to call my friends. They have been a tremendous blessing to me. It has been a year of self-discovery and learning about what I want and what I need as well as who I am. At 41, I feel like I am probably the happiest that I have been in a very long time and that is such an amazing feeling.

I am looking forward to blogging more and hopefully being able to inspire others as the blogs that I read inspire me. Look for more posts about my creative adventures, stories about raising kids and the scariest of all...dating! That could be a blog on its own. lol

Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you will come back soon!

KT