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A preteen crush?

Parenting …

I’ve had those guilty moments, like WTF did I just do or say that

I pick my battles

It’s exhausting to argue over what they do or do not eat.  Why some people fight their kids on this is beyond me.  They like what they like.  Their tastes are going to change.  Unless they’re spooning frosting out of the container for breakfast I’m not going to freak out if they decide to have a slice of left over pizza on their way out the door to school.  They get vegetables, dairy, meats, carbs, proteins …

I try to keep an open dialog with them.  Both of them seem like they can come and talk to me when they need to.  I don’t make a big deal out of things so that they don’t feel uncomfortable talking about stuff.

So just the other day she is with me in the car.  It’s just the two of us.  And she says daddy can I ask you a random question.  What would you say if I told you I had a crush?  Because I do.  He likes me too.  Is this an Ogden boy I ask?  No, a Cossitt kid.  Hmm…

That’s sort of the end of that conversation though and we move on.

But over the next 24 hours it’s running through my head.  Where is this going?  What’s going to happen next?  I’m thinking of my teenage years…not freaking out, sort of, but more or less borderline.

Then the next evening she says she doesn’t have a crush any more.  But that she does have guys who are her friends.  Phew?!?!?!  I didn’t ask any more.  She feels like she can come talk to me and I’m hoping to keep it that way.

I could envision her mom’s side of the family asking question after question, trying to get the scoop so that they can then go gossip about it.  That’s just not me.  I think that causes people to put up walls sometimes; to avoid those types of situations and to stay more or less closed mouth.

Anyways I’m confident there’s more to come and this was just a brief introduction to the teenage years ahead of us … yikes!