She said...she said

I think that I need to start carrying around a digital recorder. Either that, or a translator unit that can translate from teenager to parent and back.

Although my profession has trained me in the area of communication and communicative disorders, there seems to be a big gap with the communication between myself and Elle. For some strange reason, I am able to effectively communicate with Middle School and High School students, and have successfully done so for many years. However, I seem to be having great difficulty when it comes to communicating with my own daughter.

I wonder why that is. Could it be that I filter whatever she is saying to me through what I want for her?...or is it that she is filtering what I am saying to her through what she wants to hear? Either way, conversations, the past few days, have been ending with Elle screeching either "I never said that, don't put words in my mouth!", "You never said that, you're making this up now", or "You just don't understand!"...at which point Elle storms away from me.

I am running out now to go and get that digital recorder...sigh...breathe in...breathe out.

They're Back In School

Both my kids went back to school today, Elle to High School, and Sport to Middle School...and I feel really sad. This summer passed way too quickly and I am not ready for them to be back into the grind of school.

Homework, early morning wake-ups, rushed breakfasts, homework, afterschool activities, did I mention homework?

I miss my kids. Normally I would have gone to some Professional Development days (for work) but this year my district decided not to pay their employees to attend the "Buy Back Days"...so I decided to extend my summer vacation by 3 more days. I guess the price that I am paying for not going to those classes, is that I miss my kids...and they've only been gone for one hour...sigh

If I am feeling this blue when I know that I will see them both in a few hours, I can't imagine what I will feel like when they go off to college...shudder... breathe in...breathe out. This parenting thing is hard!

Maybe if Elle hadn't been so worried this morning about starting High School, getting her schedule, and finding her classes, I wouldn't be fretting so much. Hopefully when she arrives home this afternoon, she will have good, happy stories to tell me about her first day of High School. Sport on the other hand, went off to a new school (Middle School) happy as a clam. Hopefully his joy won't be squelched.

I wonder, if as a parent the worrying about your kids ever stops...and if so, when?

I'm going to try to distract myself...sitting here fretting is not going to make the day go any faster...I'm going to head to the nearest big box store for some retail therapy...breathe in...breathe out.