tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1086764876629036045.post7984040941006366969..comments2023-10-06T06:29:02.689-04:00Comments on A Bright Cape: It gets betterSkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10723733406348223879noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1086764876629036045.post-66079289324771193912016-05-29T21:36:19.820-04:002016-05-29T21:36:19.820-04:00Oh dear, blogspot screwed me over
I tried to pos...Oh dear, blogspot screwed me over<br /><br /><br />I tried to post my very eloquent if wordy response and accidentally logged out. Blogspot didn't save my comments and I didn't do the intelligent thing (writing a long ish response in another window or app, then C&Ping) suffice to say I too was very optimistic about the teen years being different than the stereotypes...but so far, we are living out a bunch of them. As parents of twins without older or younger siblings we have no previous experience and won't be able to do it better next time!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13266842684090450415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1086764876629036045.post-14940966600747602022016-05-29T21:36:06.817-04:002016-05-29T21:36:06.817-04:00Oh dear, blogspot screwed me over
I tried to pos...Oh dear, blogspot screwed me over<br /><br /><br />I tried to post my very eloquent if wordy response and accidentally logged out. Blogspot didn't save my comments and I didn't do the intelligent thing (writing a long ish response in another window or app, then C&Ping) suffice to say I too was very optimistic about the teen years being different than the stereotypes...but so far, we are living out a bunch of them. As parents of twins without older or younger siblings we have no previous experience and won't be able to do it better next time!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13266842684090450415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1086764876629036045.post-85008399094927252862015-09-12T00:44:58.332-04:002015-09-12T00:44:58.332-04:00Teenagers are awesome! I know, I spend lots of ti...Teenagers are awesome! I know, I spend lots of time with big groups of them.<br />A few things:<br />1) I suspect that parents of teenagers have had enough distance from infant/toddler/small kid years to put on their rose coloured glasses and remember the good times, while forgetting what it's like to change the sheets stained with poo while holding (and equally pooey) screaming child at 4 in the morning. Already I forget how difficult the 'every 3 hours' feeding cycle was for Emily and I when our lil guy was newly home.<br />2) If you're a control freak (or tend that way a bit), teenagers are probably pretty stressful. When kids are toddlers you control everything - what they eat, where they go, what they wear, who they see etc etc. So that's less stressful than a kid who's making many of their own life choices.<br />3) Teenagers have very different brains from adults. It's hard to understand why they behave the way that they do because to an adult brain their behaviour seems crazy. Their pre-frontal cortices aren't fully hooked up until they are in their early 20's so they really do have a very different brain even though they seem like adults much of the time. This manifests in novelty seeking, risk taking, and weird reward interactions that it's hard for adults to properly appreciate unless you're expecting it (even then....)<br />4) I'd suggest having a frank conversation about the effects of drugs and alcohol on brain development with Elli at the appropriate age. As it turns out (as was told to me by Dr. David Tranter from LU and other reading that I've done), regular binge drinking behaviour is what's bad for teenage brain development - something that a LOT of young people do - while with pot, if you smoke a lot of it before your adult brain is fully hooked up (early 20's) you're likely to impair your brain development to some degree. Fortunately, consuming a lot of pot after that point is, I'm told, entirely harmless towards long term cognitive function. If you can get kids to hold off on large doses of alcohol and cannabis until their brain has mostly turned into an 'adult brain' they are more likely to reach their full cognitive potential. Just some info that I think kids should be armed with before they start making theses decisions. I, like you Sky, am 100% in favour of giving young people all the real science to help them make sex, drugs, & Rock and Roll related decisions. Currently it seems like the attitude towards drugs and young people is "BAD BAD!! DON'T TOUCH" which me know works so very well..... ergh!Matt Royhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06532354277848905275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1086764876629036045.post-15244448369797309302015-09-09T08:51:39.564-04:002015-09-09T08:51:39.564-04:00I share your hopes for the teenage years, but give...I share your hopes for the teenage years, but given the overwhelming information from parents of teens that it's harder, they remain hopes that I do not depend on.<br /><br />I have found *no one* who says the teen years are easier. I ignored popular wisdom when it came to young kids - I figured I knew more and could game it. And I was wrong. So I'm stepping a bit more hesitantly now. <br /><br />Your list of teenager problems are the stereotypical list but those aren't the issues I hear about that concern me. I look at this is an unknown unknowns situation. Your overconfidence could end up being your undoing.<br /><br />Or it could all turn out really well because you're not expecting bad things and expectations occasionally inform reality. Vienneauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09647759933462318708noreply@blogger.com