Oh, Great! So Now, I’m the Parent…

The other day the news was reporting that we were going to be getting horrible weather — thunder, lightning, hail, tornadoes, the works! They even let school out early because of the severe weather we were supposed to be getting. So of course, I told my daughter that she needs to come home right after school and stay home because the weather must be getting bad if they are sending students home early. No coffee runs. No hanging out with friends after school. Nothing. Straight home.

Well…the weather came and went.

I might have heard a couple rumblings of thunder and I might have seen a few light rain showers, but that was it. Other than that, crickets. This made me think about that time when I was a teenager: I wanted to go hang out with my friends so badly, but I had to stay home because Neil Pascal said a severe storm was coming into town. And did it? Nope, not at all! Thanks to Neil Pascal I had to stay home and miss out on a night with friends because my mom was too worried about the weather.

But now, I’m the person afraid of the weather and saying, “No.” I’m the parent and I am officially freaked out.

I have been a step-mom for almost four years and a parent to my baby boy for almost three, but on Monday night, it finally hit: I am the parent. No longer am I the one begging for the later curfew; I am the one setting the curfew (which, by the way, I totally am not good at because it is a battle between the “parent” version of me and the “I was a teenager too, once” me. And those two versions of me are constantly at odds).

“She needs to be home by 9:30pm,” thinks “parent” me. “Oh, come on. Just let her have another hour. It will be fine,” replies back “teenager” me.

I am praying these two versions of me meet in the middle one day so that they are not at odds and have me totally confused about the right decisions to make when it comes to curfew and other topics, including boys. Oh yes, we have now entered the “dating” phase of our lives and this has made me feel even more like the “parent” and less like the “cool” teenager. And let me tell you; it stinks.

I remember when I was dating my high school boyfriend. It was no boys in rooms and always in public. You know, the whole ten yards trying to ensure nothing was going on. I remember one time when all I wanted to do was watch a movie in my room. Seriously, that was it. I was so mad when the answer was no.

But oh, how I get it now! When I was a teenager, I told myself that I would be the fun parent who automatically trusts their children. (Are you laughing yet?) But I am not because they “parent” version of me tells me that all teenagers are liars. The first time my daughter had her boyfriend over, I felt so old because the “parent” version of me came out. Doors open, no boys in rooms, always in public, etc. You know, all that stuff the “cool” version of me said I would never do. Oh yes, now I am the parent…and it stinks. 

So, to all the other moms who are in complete shock that they are now the “parent,” you are not alone. I am right there with you! I cannot believe I am now the one saying, “No,” when I was the one not too long ago begging for a “Yes” from my parents. My how time passes quickly!