(we made it!)
A = 13!!
13 years (and 2 days) ago yesterday at Duke hospital, A was born (not the easiest entrance into the world).
2 nights ago, yet another sleepless night ensued as we hosted 8 13-year-olds (6 slept over) for a sleepover.
It went . . . okay!!! Actually, I’d say it went well overall. The girls seemed to really have fun, our house is in one piece, and I still got SOME sleep. Josh took over supervising duties at around 10 pm as he was up watching basketball anyway, and I am VERY grateful for this because my body just kind of shut down at that point — this was soooo appreciated and helpful.
Were we thrilled when they were still up giggling at 1 AM? No. But we made it through. The biggest issue honestly was Genevieve who wanted so badly to be a part of things but really IS NOT ready to stay up past midnight.
(Note: our house is all one floor; like most FL homes, there’s no basement! I would have loved to put everyone in some sort of separate area, but our home doesn’t have one. Her room is a little farther away from our bedroom, but wouldn’t have fit all the girls.)
I got permission from A to share this pic:
Her friends had a great time and there was minimal drama. Hooray!
So, we have a teen now . . .
Not expecting anything magical to happen with the big 1-3 (and obviously there are plenty of “teen” stereotypes that aren’t entirely positive), but I am still excited to be here. I’ve seen lots of variations on what “having a teen” means to different families (both from people I know personally and the families I’ve gotten to know through following them over many years at work), and my conclusion is that there is no one “normal” experience – I can only imagine there will be hard times, fun times, emotionally challenging (and sometimes gut-wrenching) times, growth, great memories, and a lot of love and opportunities for me to practice understanding and empathy.
I am proud of the person A is (and continues to become), and love spending time with her, so I think we are off to a good start. Happy 13!!!!!!
9 Comments
Aww happy birthday A! And well done parents hosting a great sleepover. As a teen I had so many sleepovers where we stayed up past midnight and I never gave a thought to the poor sleep deprived parents! Looking forward to hearing how the teenage years progress in your household, we are still a few years away in my house, so it’s interesting to hear how other families navigate some of the challenges (and enjoy the many fun things too!)
You have a teen!! Happy Birthday to A and Happy Birth Day to you.
There is so much energy in a room full of girls that age, but I enjoy these parties so much more. This year I provided food and that was literally it. She wanted to plan and execute on everything else and I was pretty happy about that!
Yes, there are lots of ups and downs and emotional/hormonal fluctuations, but I am really, really enjoying this stage of parenting. Being able to parent more with my mental faculties vs my physical faculties is a lot better suited to my personality. I remember getting to the end of a day with two youngish kids and being so “touched” out. And now I take all the hugs and snuggles I can get because for the most part, it is very uncool to hug your mom once you’re a teen (at least for mine).
Great job–honestly, 1am is not bad for that many 13 year olds! My 12-year-old son has stayed up till 6am multiple times at multi-kid sleepovers. I noticed a change in this regard to staying up super later once kids had phones (he doesn’t actually have one but most of his friends do). Once they had access to devices it was really hard to get them to go to sleep unless the parents set a device-free time at a certain hour. They just seem to stay on Youtube and games forever…
I didn’t take anyone’s phone away!
Your prediction of the teen years is spot on. You nailed it- it is all that. Happy birthday to A, and I LOVE the picture of her with her birthday shirt!
I can’t believe she’s a teenager! If your kids are growing up that means mine are too..! It flies. Thirteen was a memorable year for me, I hope A enjoys it and I hope you live a little vicariously through her too. Happy happy bday A!!!
happy birthday A! sounds like a perfect celebration for the big milestone! I agree that we should not be afraid of teens era, but rather enjoy the ride.
Your sleepover space is so aesthetic!! Very impressive. 🙂 I love having a 13 year old.
Love this! We also survived a sleepover recently– the kids had a blast, but I hated it.