It aint easy being a Teen

Remember when you were a teen? Remember how everyone and everything just got on your nerves. Where did you turn for refuge? Was there anyone who helped make your life a little better? I try to be that person and feel it's my life's mission to help teens deal with all the little uncertainties that crop up in their lives.
Five days a week I'm surrounded by teens. Literally hundreds of them pass through my classroom on a daily basis and I'm happy to see each and everyone of them. What I've learned about teens in the past 15 years is that all they really want is to be loved. Even the angry ones who pretend to hate everyone and everything want love, although they'd never ever admit it. I may be wrong but I think they also want respect. If you treat them with kindness and sprinkle in a little humor every now and they will most likely be your Bestest friend in the whole wide world. It is this reason that I'm dedicating the next 60 years of my life to helping this generation of little liked and most understood citizens find happiness.
I wish there was someone who understand me when I was a teen. I had was 3 older sisters and 3 older brothers who thought I was a brat and a tattle tale. Well, I guess I really was. All I wanted was to hang out with them and go the places they went but nooooo I couldn't because I was and I guess I will always be the little sister. So in order to keep from living a life of absolute boredom I would secretly listen to their conversations and tell my mother what they were planning or plotting. Yea, I know this made me a major snitch but a girl had to do what a girl had to do at the time.
I guess if I could go back to my childhood years I would do things a little different. I guess I would try to get them to listen to my cries for friendship and not threaten them with exposing their secrets. But I can't and in some ways I don't regret what I did because it helped me forge a closer bond with the one person I loved most in the whole wide world - My Mommy.
There are days I wish she was still here on earth so that I could give her one more really warm embrace and tell her over and over again how much I love her. She wasn't the perfect parent but she was the most loving mother I could have ever had. She made my teen years a bit more bearable and I always felt like I was really very special and extremely loved.
I guess that once again validates my point about teens. All they really want is our love and support and encouragement. They want to please us and for us to tell them how much we are pleased by their actions. How about we all make a pledge to talk to that special teen in our life and share a story about our teen years in hopes that they will one day soon do the same. Remember communication is a two way street and the more you share from your heart - the more they will eventually do the same.