15 REASONS TO SMILE IF YOU HAVE A TWEEN
We all need reminders now and then!
by Michele Ranard                        380 words

If you’re parenting a tween, you have probably bid goodbye to a good measure of childhood wonder and innocence. The tween years can be awkward for kids and grown-ups alike! With your child, you may also experience growing pains and even grief as they enter adolescence.

But there are plenty of positives about these in between years, and not everything about the younger ones was rosy. We tend to forget the stuff that drove us nuts. Here are some lighthearted reminders to file away and keep us optimistic.

1. Cue the confetti—Dora has left the building!

2. Remember air travel where an in-flight tantrum drove every passenger on board to the brink of insanity? Over. Plugged into an iPod or busy with Sudoku means far less mortification.

3. Now you can share an adolescent-appropriate movie then discuss its meaning—an opportunity for personal growth for both of you.

4. What a relief you are no longer expected to read the literature they are assigned in English class (which is uber cool since Othello is not your idea of “downtime” after work).

5. Suddenly you and your spouse dress more fashionably as a matter of THEIR survival.

6. Glimpsing your tween’s joy and skill on the football/soccer/baseball field invigorates the soul.

7. Every once in awhile they cross the room just to bend and give you a hug, and your heart grows three sizes.

8. Forwarding that hilarious youTube they introduced you to elevates you to coolest cat at the office.

9. Twelve-year-olds do a significantly better job vacuuming than toddlers.

10. Sippy cups, diaper genies, and rectal thermometers are history.

11. Shelling out $20 for the concert tee they’ll wear for two years is considerably easier to swallow than the $20 onesie which fit for two weeks.

12. Your dream of seeing Europe, taking up golf, or reading the classics? It’s within the realm of possibilities now.

13. When they’re sick, they probably don’t have to be wrestled to the ground for the grape flavored syrup that stains white onesies.

14. They’re not yet driving which means you may still be sleeping at night!

15. You finally have a few minutes to scrapbook baby photos—a task leading you to fall in love with your tween all over again.