| When I read Meghan Leahy's most recent column, I found myself nodding at one particular section. "Our culture is a bit confused when it comes to teens and their behavior," she writes. "We seem to have a collective misunderstanding that our teens are supposed to lie, abuse alcohol and drugs, and become belligerent … Parents don't have to accept this fatalistic view of teens." I hear and read so much about the horror of teens, how hard it is to raise them, how daunting it is to prepare to raise them. What Meghan is telling the person who wrote in – and all of us, really – is that it doesn't have to be that way. We can't just give up when things get tough and chalk it up to teens being teens. We have to be engaged, and it can be fun to be there, honestly! This reminds me a bit of a quote I saw from the writer Catherine Newman, in a house tour she gave on the blog Cup of Jo. She is a new empty-nester and she's getting used to the quiet in her house. "I realized that…I had approached motherhood as hosting this really good, multi-decade party," she says. A multi-decade party. It's fun, it's exhausting, it's a mess, and you feel so good the next day when everything is cleaned up. It was an exhausting ton of work – all those meals, loud conversations, the mishaps and messes. But the party is always worth it in the end. Hoping you all have a good weekend. (Give your teens a hug. They'll appreciate it more than you think.) | Don't wait to hear them say "I'm bored!" Sunday Funday features 52 seasonal activities for families to enjoy together—from gardening projects to crafts and recipes, there's always something fun to do. | | | | | |
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