Help, I need a new mother!

“Male,(mother) abeg no de pass in front of my school again when you de go shop!” A teen said to his mother one day when he came back from school, he had endured the annoying endless teasing from his friends in school and now, the extension e is no longer proportional to the force applied, the elastic limit has been exceeded!...(Jeez, I’m feeling myself this morning, only science students will understand) His mum tried to get his reason for saying that, she was so insistent and wanted to know where that was coming from.... All his effort to cook up lies proved abortive and he ended up saying the impossible... “My friends de make jest of me say my male no fine!” Even now as I type, I still empathize with this mother.... One of the peculiarities of the teen age is that what their friends say about them is a big deal....like a B.I.G D.E.A.L! Just like every other stages of life, teen age have it’s peculiarities....take for instance, singlehood, you are thinking of marrying the right spouse, as a lady and you dare to live alone, you are judged...... You get married and you could hardly secure a job as a lady.....employers are thinking you would soon be going on a maternity leave.... Pregnancy comes, you are either throwing up everywhere or spitting or choosy when it comes to eating and all... You have a baby, your life won’t ever remain thesame again,....the early months, you suffer sleepless nights because baby isn’t sleeping and you have to breastfeed and all.... The child start crawling, you are screaming up and down....”leave there!” “Stay here”....”don’t touch it!” .....most of this chants, the recipient had no idea what you are saying and still go on to “touch” “stay there”.......lol! So this child becomes a teen and you are now making it look as if you had a perfect baby(child) all along.....for where? You have been experiencing one phase to the other before now, each with its roller coaster of emotions, you survived....how? One of the characteristics of human is adaptation.....so first you need to adapt to this new phase of parenting a teen, just like you have always done. This child is no longer the one you practically order around and “thy will was done” without questioning..... Understand that this child is becoming more like you now, grown and can take some independent decisions and everyone will be fine.... You need to understand that as much as this child look matured physically, he/she is yet to psychologically and you have to be there through thick and thin without judging....because every other person out there is judging him/her. You need to understand that at this phase, you need to respect your Teens’s opinion, contribution, feelings, emotions....as much as you want yours to be respected. You need to understand that there is no one size fits all when it comes to parenting, don’t allow anyone to bamboozle you....”my teens, when I blink laidis, they know what I mean, they behave!”.....Na so! Understanding your own child is very important! You need to understand this stage of life for you to get the best out of it... Another key thing is that, You cannot afford not to be your Teens’s friend....I mean a friendly authority.....make your home friendly...the world out there is a jungle and your teen need all the support from home to survive and thrive. *********************************************** If you were this Teens’s parent, how would you react/respond? Share in the comment section. Please don’t ask me, I honestly don’t know how I would handle it....let me think “fess”! Do have a productive day.