Search Results for: blog the self centeredness does get to me

What Do I Say When People Ask Me About Teenagers?

Fairly regularly, people ask me what it is REALLY like living with three high-school age teenagers? Friends and acquaintances will want to know if it is as “horrible” as they have heard? If it is all sex, drugs, and bad behavior? Someone will watch a television program or read a newspaper headline and they will want to know firsthand, what teenagers are like “now days.” Well, all I can do is answer the truth as I know it… As many of you know, I actually LIKE my kids and I enjoy the teenage phase. In reality, there have been such … Continue reading →

The Self-Centeredness DOES Get to Me

First I’d like to say that I adore my kids–and on most occasions I have complete faith that they will evolve into caring, considerate and contributing adults. But, the reality of childhood and adolescence is that kids have a tendency to be amazingly self-centered. As we work to introduce all that caring, consideration, etc. into our children’s character, we are still battling against the typical self-centeredness that seems to be developmentally appropriate for a child. And, I’m here to tell you that it does sometimes aggravate me to no end! I don’t know if it is environmental or inherent in … Continue reading →

Who Are We to Judge?

The death of a child elicits sympathy as much as it does gossip, especially if you live in a small town. Unfortunately, in many cases, that gossip begets judgmental finger pointing, and more often than not, the loss of a young life gets overshadowed by rampant speculation and vicious accusations. That’s exactly what’s taking place in a tiny town not far from my rural Wisconsin home. Last night, an innocent 2-year-old girl died after ingesting an unknown amount of gasoline. Meanwhile, her 4-year-old brother is currently fighting for his life after swallowing the same gas that killed his sister. According … Continue reading →

Racism, Current Events, and Halloween History

Not many people know what Halloween meant to the early Celtic Christians of Ireland. I knew that the name “Hallow-even” meant “eve of All Hallows (All Saints’ Day), a feast day still celebrated by many Christian denominations. I knew that one of the origins of trick-or-treating was the custom of children holding lanterns (perhaps made of hollowed-out squash with a candle inside) and going from house to house offering prayers for the dead. The homeowners then served “soul cakes”. I’m not exactly sure what those were, but that fact may be why I always associate Halloween with doughnuts. That was … Continue reading →

“It’s None of Your Business!”

Of course, I suppose I’m a traditionalist in that it is hard for me not to think that anything that happens in my house is my business. Alas, as my children get older—they are assuming that more and more of what happens in their lives is their business and NOT mine—so we are a point of struggle… There is something about the natural state of mind of the teenager that causes them to think they are living in a vacuum. Somehow, the arguments and temper tantrums are supposed to be merely expressions of their states of mind without actually being … Continue reading →