My little girl has finally grown up to be a teen. She has been a joy since birth. She has always been beautiful, smart, articulate, friendly and kind. I have to admit that I dreaded the teen years having read so much about the large number of troubled teens and how they experiment with rude behavior, drugs, alcohol and sex. Lo and behold, I am one of the lucky moms whose teen is loving, mature, anti-drug, anti-alcohol, anti-smoking and respectful. She cares about others and does her homework with being nagged. Naturally, there are some days when she is prone to irritability and back talk but I know much of that can be blamed on those hormones cursing through her veins. So, all in all, I feel blessed. My question is whether the way a teenager turns out is nature, nurture or happenstance.
Of course, I would like to believe that I have been such a wonderful parent that my daughter would never have become e a problem teenager. However, I know so many seemingly good parents whose teen-aged children are extremely difficult.
I do think the pressures on teenagers are much greater than when I was a teen. It would be interesting to find out what contributes to problem behavior vs. good behavior in the teen years.
My little girl has finally grown up to be a teen. She has been a joy since birth. She has always been beautiful, smart, articulate, friendly and kind. I have to admit that I dreaded the teen years having read so much about the large number of troubled teens and how they experiment with rude behavior, drugs, alcohol and sex. Lo and behold, I am one of the lucky moms whose teen is loving, mature, anti-drug, anti-alcohol, anti-smoking and respectful. She cares about others and does her homework with being nagged. Naturally, there are some days when she is prone to irritability and back talk but I know much of that can be blamed on those hormones cursing through her veins. So, all in all, I feel blessed. My question is whether the way a teenager turns out is nature, nurture or happenstance.
Of course, I would like to believe that I have been such a wonderful parent that my daughter would never have become e a problem teenager. However, I know so many seemingly good parents whose teen-aged children are extremely difficult.
I do think the pressures on teenagers are much greater than when I was a teen. It would be interesting to find out what contributes to problem behavior vs. good behavior in the teen years.