13

Today my second daughter turns thirteen. I am now officially the mother of two teenagers. I'm not sure how I feel about that. So far, the teen years that we have already lived through with our oldest daughter have been only a little bit tedious. Sure, there have been many emotional outbursts, but at least they are not constant, and my oldest daughter has a great sense of humor. My "new" teenager might be a little different. She does not have good control of her emotions and the most common emotion she has been displaying (for the last 2 or 3 years!) has been anger. She is mad at the world and everyone living in it. On the other hand, she is a good kid when it counts, and is a superior student, so it makes it difficult to temper my interaction with her. She is great at pushing my buttons, and creating an environment that confirms (in her mind anyway) why she has a right to be mad at everyone and everything. The next few years should be quite interesting. I still have two other preteens, and have menopause lurking around the corner for me. Anyway, we will joyfully celebrate this birthday and just go with the flow with everything else that comes our way.