Kindess rules. Meanness drools

One of youngest's favorite makes him laugh story is when he was in the IKEA playspace and I got "paged".
He was toilet training and after months of refusing to go- he finally went- at IKEA.
It's longer and funnier than all that but that's not my point.

My point is I used to be able to write funny stories about my boys.
Or I would write about how hard parenting toddlers is.

But now they are teens.
And have voices.
And they are entitled to their privacy.

So I wouldn't dream of writing anything about them that would make them feel uncomfortable.
(Not that when they were 3 and potty training I wanted to embarrass them -but they were such cute stories back then. It didn't even dawn on me that at some point they may not want the world to know the IKEA story. Thankfully youngest doesn't really care)

There are many stories I would like to share.

But they aren't so cute anymore.

Some are heart-wrenching to me as a Mom.
(Note: I'm uber sensitive)

Because teen years are tough.

We want our children to be included.
We want our kids to be a part of something.
We want them to ace their World History test and not have to deal with bad skin.
We want them to eat something other than carbs and to be healthy.

But most of all
we want our kids to be happy.

I was not a fan of high school.
I wasn't a fan of college either.

Mediocre grades while being surrounded by a good percentage of potential ivy leaguers made me feel less than adequate in the academia world.

So I spent time with my boyfriend and cared more about late night phone calls with my BFF than studying for my Biology test.
College wasn't much different.

I begged to be a part of something.
And I guess I was.
I had friends.

But I was always searching
searching for a real belonging
(Thanks amazing summer camp for giving me that)


But I want more for my kids.
I want them to look at these years and feel confident in who they were.

(Which makes me internally chuckle because can any of us say we were confident with who we were as adolescents?)

I'm just sick and tired
like all of you (I hope)
to hear, read, and see stories about kids getting excluded.

I realize not everyone is going to be friends.
In the adult world that also holds true.

But I hope we all learn to be kind.
I hope we all learn to be respectful.

I hope we all remember that everyone wants to be a part of something.
And if you are a part of something that makes you feel happy- let others in.

And if you are a part of something that leaves you feeling uneasy
that something is not for you.

Go find another something.
A kinder something.