‘Teenage Train’

Ya know what they don’t tell ya when you become a new mom? They don’t tell you much past what you’re going to face the first year or so. That’s it. In the beginning, people just go on and on, giving you all kinds of advice on how to take care of a newborn, bathing and feeding and all that. And they make a point to specifically remind you, 100,000 times, carrying on and on, about how you won’t get any sleep or you’re “sleeping in” days are over, etc, etc. They tell you to sleep when the baby sleeps but be prepared to be a walking zombie and look like death warmed over.

All that advice was good, don’t get me wrong, and pretty much right on the money, but what folks don’t warn you about is what it’s like raising teenagers. They give you all these words of wisdom at when they’re born, but they don’t return at a later stage in your parenting life to give you advice about the teenage times. You’re just left to figure that one out all on your own. But I realized lately, with two teenagers in high school, that it’s not too much different than the newborn stage. Kinda came full circle.

For instance, here I am again, a sleep deprived walking zombie who never really gets a good night’s rest because I’m either waiting up for them to return at their curfew, or in bed, but not really in a deep sleep because they are supposed to text or call if their plans change or to let me know when they finally drag in the front door. Some nights I get lucky and not get interrupted but most nights I’m up two or three times checking where they’re at or who they’re with or who might be still hanging in my living room. That whole bedtime thing, when they were little kids, is long gone and having the house quiet by 9pm has passed by the wayside.

Things is, I don’t have the same energy as I used to all those years ago and now with a full time job outside of the home, and other kids in the house, I’m thinking this is almost harder than when they were newborns. The only major difference than when they were newborns is me. I’m older. I can’t do the late nights all the time and pop right up the next day and look 29 years old, wrinkle free and ready to be the Super Mom. These days, my face looks like I have teenagers and 67,000 responsibilities on top of that, and my tired body reminds me every day that I can’t survive that kind of lifestyle with minimal hours of sleep. No wonder I never feel like working out or shoot, even working period. Seems laundry takes me longer, cleaning gets delayed more than it ever used to, and to be quite honest, the main focus of my day is how soon I can finish up and hit the sack! I’m not gonna lie.

I remember feeling pretty darn tired back when they were babies and it was a lot of work, don’t get me wrong. I just remembering bouncing back quicker while still looking young and sprightly. These days, not so much. The parenting thing has again come full circle and I feel like I’m basically getting drug around that circle on my face, so if you see me slumped and dragging around, my forehead scowling and bags under my eyes, just know I’m doing good, just riding this Teenage Train I’m on and trying to do my best to hang on!