Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Teenager Extremism

I never sleep on planes. -The Princess

Since I have had a few days to myself, I realize how much I have been living the life of teenager extremes for about seven or eight years now, because it started when she was a tween. There's a lot of never's and I cannot do it or I don't know how (if she does not want to) and I can do it (if it is something I don't want her to do and she does). There is also a lot of "I am that____(whatever)" when she hears, sees, or reads something that portrays a dark humor.

And just silly things any teenager does without thinking, like she sent a picture of parts of a gun to a friend that is a boy, as all but one of her friends are boys. In context, she is taking an online hunting course in which this was appropriate, but I found sending a picture of a percussion lock which shows and names just three parts of the gun: the cock, cap, and nipple, with the caption she added on the picture "Folks, get you a percussion lock like this" to be just...well, she sent it to a boy out of the blue, out of the context, so to me that was inappropriate because a boy would likely add his own take on the context. I immediately confronted her on that and she immediate apologized to the boy for being be inappropriate. She still needs the guide rails she keeps bumping into!

Since January, my husband has been saying "two more years" as if there will magically be a cut off time for her to stop acting like a teenager and have adult maturity on her 18th birthday; he knows better, it is just hope he hangs onto like looking forward to retirement.

It is not enough that I roll my eyes at things 
the Princess says or writes, now my husband too?

Since I see all my daughter's conversations being texted, emailed, or through messaging on all her accounts, I get the double dose: what she says directly to me and what she says to her friends that she knows better than to even try to say to me. For instance, she would not say the following to me, but she did text it yesterday to another friend.

Her friend told a couple of stupid jokes and then says he feels she is going to kill him when she gets back. She says he must be psychic. 
Friend: Well hey at least if you do bad Thursday then you'll still have a very important reason to come back. 
The Princess: No. I think it would be worse if I disappeared and you never knew what happened to me. Instead of dying, you would just go through your life constantly wondering, worrying, and searching. But never finding, therefore slowly becoming more disheartened and hopeless.
There is some begging for her not to do such a thing and then...
The Princes: I will consider not doing it.

I call this thing she tends to do, this making everything as bleak as she can, going to the darkside. She often tells me how she knows how to defend herself, as if her petite 110 pound body could become a lethal weapon without any training. Well, she does carry a knife on her most of the time, but still....of late I have threaten to make her watch the Addams Family movie on Netflix, which delights me that she thinks it would be torture. I guess seeing how much she can act like Wednesday would be a nightmare for her. But then if she ever actually watched it, she probably would like it and be worse than she is now.

So, when my husband sent me this picture of her sleeping on the plane....well, they always look so sweet and innocent and everything we hope them to be when they are sleeping.



But, of course, she is not sleeping, just resting her eyes because....
she never sleeps on planes!


My Lord, I wonder if we all seem like immature teenagers to You. If You also think we look so sweet and innocent when we are sleeping. If You hope that we will mature to be what You hope we will be. If so, my Lord, I am even more thankful that You are my Lord and watching over us.