Wrong Turn

Do you ever find yourself getting lost in a day dream only to snap back to reality and realize you have taken a wrong turn somewhere along the way? That seems to be what’s occurred during my stroll along Parenting Drive and my GPS doesn’t seem to be rerouting.

My daughter is in the pre-teen (aka: tween) stage and we seem to be hitting an overload of speed bumps. Am I the only one that feels like I’ve run into a dead-end? Up until this point, I thought I was doing pretty well as a single parent. My daughter’s father dead-beat-donor hasn’t been involved since before my daughter’s 1^st birthday and even then, it was nothing to write home about (maybe more like something to include in a policy report). Although I didn’t have support from the father dead-beat-donor or his family, my family has been my biggest support system and words will never fully express my true appreciation for their unconditional love and support. And sure, there have been bumps in the road along the 11 year road-trip but that’s expected. However, lately, it seems like we’ve experienced some major detours and tire blowouts.

Without boring you with all the details, we both have areas we can work on individually that can help us improve our relationship.

Things I’ve learned and need to work on:

· I need to stop engaging in the talking back and just let what I’ve already communicated be my final word.

· I have a horrible habit of getting over things quickly. Yeah it sounds great to not be upset all the time, but I constantly find myself getting walked all over. And eventually, all those “things” build-up over time.

· I need to stop worrying so much about having a “friend” relationship with my daughter that it clouds my authority role. I’m sure there’s a happy medium where she’ll feel comfortable to come to me about almost anything while still understanding that I’m the mom and consequences do exist.

So, while my daughter is staying with my parents for part of the summer and getting some time to herself to focus on her own demons, I’ll be focusing on mine. I’m hoping this blog will even offer me some relief as I tend to keep all of my feelings and thoughts inside, so this will provide an avenue for venting and it’s cheaper than a therapist!

Although most of my posts thus far have been purely random or nothing too serious, expect some seriousness thrown in here and there from this parenting road trip of mine.

And please share any helpful tips, links, reads, etc.

Chat later,

Cassandra

 

Cassandra