I suspect most parents of teens and tweens are contending with the “Zoom Gloom” of quarantine. We’ve developed a love/hate relationship with communicating via screens. Screens sap our energy and yet they allow us and our kids to access worlds beyond the insular place we occupy in the pandemic. My husband and I are parents to a 12-year-old girl and…
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It may seem that having a conversation with your daughter about just about anything these days is difficult! There are the eye rolls, the “yep, I know” comments and the “you just don’t get it” remarks that make it feel impossible to communicate. However, if you have a tween daughter you may have noticed that things are changing for…
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Dear kids, We all hoped things would be better by now. After surviving such a traumatic spring and agonizing summer that changed our lives drastically, we looked forward to the new school year with anxious anticipation. We thought Covid-19 would be under control and by the time school began, you’d be able to enter through the doors of the actual…
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On a balmy summer night recently, I looked over from my beach chair at the exact moment my son happened to look at me. His eyes met mine and he smiled. His reddened nose held the tell-tale signs of a day in the sun and his scruffy facial hair reminded me that he hasn’t shaved (or gone for a…
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The day I told my girls — ages 15 and 12 — that it was unlikely their beloved Bubbie would recover was just a regular school day. They came home, grabbed a snack, and were about to “chill” (a.k.a., watch Netflix or Disney Channel) before starting their homework. I had practiced it in my head a million times. I…
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Seventh Grade, man…*sigh* Where do I begin? I’m not too old to remember that middle school can be a really rough time in a kid’s life. So many things changing all at once: your body, your brain, your global perspective…your mounting stack of homework. Between innocence and maturity, there seems to be a minefield of awkwardness and social angst,…
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Over the past few months of sheltering at home, I’ve made a surprising discovery: I may be a Generation X mom, but I love middle-school ages, or juvenile and young adult books – geared toward readers ages eight to twelve – as much as my kids do. Here’s why sharing a reading list with my tweens has brought us…
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The stay-home days of COVID brought more than togetherness, online everything, and a little stir-craziness. They also brought out the night owls in many of us, including our kids. Unlike the sleep struggles we faced with babies and toddlers, this is a new kind of sleep battle we face. Here at Moms of Tweens and Teens the question…
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If 2020 isn’t the year of feelings, I don’t know what is. But one day, it just came pouring out, like these pieces usually do and I realized for a moment that I’m surely not alone. I think moms everywhere are feeling the same rollercoaster of emotions. (Maybe without the Dolly Parton song:) Knee-deep in the weeds of life. In…
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I have a secret – I’m not a perfect mom. No, seriously. I’m not. It’s okay. I’ve come to terms with it, but it wasn’t so easy to acknowledge at first. And it all started with my divorce. Divorce can be hard on kids. I’m from a broken home myself, so I know this first-hand. So, when I found myself…
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I remember those sleepless nights when I was in my third trimester of pregnancy. How I could not get comfortable no matter which way I turned my big belly. “It’s preparing you for when the baby comes,” the wise mothers who had gone before me said. “You’re learning how to function on less sleep so you’ll be more accustomed…
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Dear Teen, When there are so many things you wish you could change about yourself. When you zero in on every detail you don’t like. When you wish your hair was curly or your nose was smaller. When you wish your eyes were bigger or your teeth were whiter. When you’d give anything to change the way you look…
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