Are you parenting teens – or will be at some point soon in the future? Writer Tiffany Wood has realised that soon, she will have FIVE in her house. Her eldest, she says, has actually been a very easy teen to parent, but, in saying that there are still five phone calls she’s received that have absolutely floored her…
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It dawned on me recently that in the not too distant future I will have five teenagers under one roof! Yep, you read that right.
When my youngest is 13, my other children will be 15, 16, 17 and 18.
The reason I’m sharing this heart-stopping epiphany is because I am currently heading towards the end of the dreaded teen years with my eldest, and from what I can tell she’s one of the easy ones.
As a parent, no matter what you do, you are never prepared for what may come. So I thought I’d share a couple of “eventful” teen calls that stopped my heart for five seconds to hopefully prepare some parents for what’s to come:
‘Hello Ms Wood, We’ve had an incident with Miss Wood and alcohol, she has been suspended’ (Year 8, age 13)
That was a call from the school due to “accidentally getting beer on her lips” during a class, post State of Origin beer handaround that a student snuck from her home.
This was my first heartbreak moment, something I never thought I’d get a call about, not my daughter! Yep, you will get a call about something you thought they’d never do.
‘Mum, can you come back and get me? I’m freaking out and everyone has left me’ (Year 9, age 14)
This one will be a call or text from your teen because they have gone to something they thought they could handle, but couldn’t. And on this occasion it was Fright Night at Movie World.
My daughter’s friends had managed to split up during one of the scariest events on the teen calendar and my daughter ended up traumatised from being scared solo.
So back I went, 20 minutes later, (with five little ones in the car) to rescue her from her teenage nightmares.
‘Hello Ms Wood, it’s Sergeant Callum from the Tweed Police station’ (Year 10, age 15)
This one’s not as bad as you think, but getting a call from the police in the middle of the night will definitely make your heart stop for a few seconds.
This one was during the Covid era, and my daughter had decided to party house hop from Queensland to NSW when the borders were, sort of, closed.
You may not get a call from the police, but you will, at one point, get a call from someone about them doing something they weren’t supposed to be doing.
‘Mum can I get my Learner’s Licence and start driving?’ (Year 11, age 16)
This one, for me at least, makes my heart stop for a few seconds on every drive.
When our teens think they can drive, but actually suck at it, it puts us parents, who are in the passenger seat, in heart-stopping moments pretty much every drive. And this goes on for nearly a whole year – no wonder I have anxiety!
‘Mum, I just swerved to miss a cat and I’ve crashed my car’ (Year 12, age 17)
Can you believe this call was only a couple of weeks ago? At record speed, my daughter got her Ps, bought a car and the day after crashed it!
I can guarantee you will get a call from your teen that they have backed into something, had a prang or, in my daughter’s case, a total write off.
I know this because I have four nieces driving, and every single one has done it.
The hidden moral to my teen call story is, yes you will receive the calls, but that’s what you want them to do. Be the first person they call or tell.
Knowing that no matter what they have done or are going through that you are going to love them unconditionally and work through it together.
And that is how we got through the teen years. Together!
This article was reproduced with permission from 9Honey. To read the original article, click here.
