Pick Your Battles Wisely With Your Teens - Pink Hair May Not Be So Bad After All

"Your Mother turned my hair grey and you kids made it fall out!"  That's what my Father used to tell us once we hit the teenage years.  One thing I did learn from him was to pick your battles wisely.  Afterall, how bad could pink hair on your child be compared to them getting hooked on drugs.

Teenagers are stuck in that awful world between being a kid and an adult.  They are trying to come into their own and can express this in ways that can will make you cringe.  I was always a very creative child.  I continued being creative as a teenager, yet expressed it in a odd way. 

It all started when I was out sick and home from school for five days with the Flu.  My best friend came to visit me the first day I was home, and to cheer me up took one of my crayons (I like to color even now when I don't feel well) and wrote a message on my wall.  I loved it! I encouraged the next few visitors that stopped by to do the same.  Soon, word had gotten around school that Sarah was turning her wall into a graffiti site.  A couple of scribblings turned into 100.

My Dad was unaware of this wonderful art that was being created and when he stopped in my room to see me, he took one look at the wall and about had a heart attack.  Once he calmed down (it took a few days) he not only accepted it, he began to appreciate it.  When we had to move back to the States, we had to pack and clean, etc... and paint the walls.  My Dad came into my room the day before we painted and took photos of my wall and seemed all nostalgic. 

I have tried over the years to incorporate that valuable lesson I learned from my Father into how I parented my own girls once they became teenagers.  You may not like how they dress or what color they dye their hair, yet if you can learn to put things in perspective, like them wearing goth style clothing and having spiked hair is far better than expressing themselves through drinking, drugs and sex, it will carry you a long way to keeping your sanity and letting them feel somewhat independent.  The teenage road is definitely a long and bumpy one, yet it can certainly have it's fun and amusing moments if you don't let it kill you.