Consider yourself warned!
A guide for those who think they want children.
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The other day, I had the honor and the privilege of going to the movies with my daughter. Now, I say that it was an honor and a privilege because this girl usually prefers to be alone in her room only to interact with us when she needs something, or if we just happen to be in her path as she heads to the kitchen or bathroom. Then she may grace us with a few words. I have just come to accept that she is fifteen and would prefer the company of her “cool” friends over my company (even though I think that I’m cooler than her friends). So, you can understand why I was a little shocked when she suggested that we go see the latest Thor movie. Now, I am an Avengers fan. I was a little surprised that she wanted to go. First of all, this is not the type of movie she normally likes. In fact, I can’t even remember the last time she went to the movie theater with me and her brother to see a Marvel movie. She usually tells us that she doesn’t want to go and stays home, locked up in her room with her IPad and phone. Secondly, I was surprised that she wanted to go with me, and not her friends. Who knows? Maybe she just felt cheap and didn’t want to pay. But being the great mom that I am, I gladly accepted. After all, it had been a while since we’ve been to the movies together.
So, we are seated in the theater and I soon realized that seeing a movie with my now teenage daughter is not the same as watching it with my son. Its not better, its just different. When my son and I watch a movie together, we talk about the plot, what we found believable, what we liked, what we didn’t like, etc. You get the picture. However, while watching this Thor movie with my daughter, the conversation was not even close to the kind I have with my son. I suspect that it has to do with the fact that she is a young girl coming into age. With her, the conversation was more about who’s cute, who’s not, who would you like to marry … and, my all-time favorite, who has the better body! Before the movie actually started, we were forced to watch the previews. When the preview for Black Panther was shown, I almost fell out of my seat (even though I had watched it with my daughter on the internet a few weeks ago. There was just something about seeing it on the big screen that made me want to yell out DAMN!!) I turn to my daughter and politely asked her, “Did you see the body on the guy who plays the Black Panther?” Side note, for all the women out there, google it and you’ll see what I mean. My daughter looked at me, smiled at me, and laughed. What a bonding moment. Some people may think that I shouldn’t be having these kinds of conversations with my daughter. But I disagree. Why not talk about it? The girl is fifteen and trust me, I know she looks at boys. She does it right in front of me! Besides, it’s a great way to lead into the sex conversation. Now, just to be clear, we didn’t have sex conversation that day. And I wasn’t about to have it inside the movie theater. There was a row of younger kids sitting right in front of us. I wouldn’t want them to overhear THAT conversation. But after the movie, we had a conversation as to what she likes and doesn’t like in boys … their physical characteristics, personalities, and how she should be treated by boys. I thought it was a good conversation. It gave me some insight into her psyche, and we had fun. When you have kids, it may be challenging, but we have to be open to having meaningful conversations with them. They need to feel comfortable talking to us. Trust me, there will be some topics that you don’t want to talk about, or that may be uncomfortable for you to talk about. But guess what? We are the adults, so we have to just get over it. So, suck it up and have those uncomfortable conversations with your kids. And … Consider Yourself Warned! What types of uncomfortable conversations have you had with your kids?
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SassyGirlTye lives with her two wonderful teenagers in Brooklyn, New York. No matter what she says in her posts, she truly loves her children with all her heart.
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