And then you have teenagers

When my children were small I thought they would never grow up, time seemed to stretch on forever. Diapers and bottles were part of our everyday life. I was constantly tripping over toys and always cleaning up some mess. Then one morning I woke up and found that my sweet little boys had turned into something entirely different... I had TEENAGERS!!! It seemed like I always heard statements such as:"Mom you just don't get it" or "Mom but all the others guys stay out late, why can't I" and the much loved phrase "When I have kids I won't tell them what to do all the time" Their personalities seemed to morph into something so strange I wondered if aliens came and got my children and put others into to replace them.

Through all the trying times, many tears, and holding my breath my children have become something I never expected; they have become my friends. In each of them I see traits of my parents, my grandparents, siblings and yes even myself. When I'm having a bad day one of them will do something goofy just to make me smile. Each of them are developing compassion and gratitude which at times I wondered if they would ever think about someone besides themselves. In short my kids are amazing! Now that doesn't mean they never drive me crazy, they do that often. There are times I wonder "how did my parents ever survive raising me? Then I think "oh yeah when I was giving birth to them I must have pushed out some of my brains in the process" Going insane is the hard part... once you're there it's pure bliss.