Teenagers and Wannabes

I'm living with two teenagers and one almost/wannabe teenager. But Bunny isn't a REAL teenager YET! Thank goodness.
Boy was surly all through middle school and the first part of high school, but he came around towards the end of 10th grade and for the most part has been pleasant if not exactly a paragon of virtue. (Last weekend's speeding ticket for instance...)
I really thought we might have dodged that bullet with Bella. She was mostly delightful all through middle school. Then high school reared its ugly head along with Bella rearing hers. She is surly, lazy and ungrateful with brief moments of her old delightful self giggling through. I live for those bright moments- cringing and crying through the rest.
So I realized I REALLY need to appreciate Bunny in her final pre-teen moments. She is still funny and mostly agreeable and I REALLY need to enjoy it. I know her time will come,also, just like I know (ok- I hope) Bella will eventually go back to her old personality, same as Boy.
These last 24 hours have given me lots to appreciate. Who else would think, when given an assignment to bring in a G or PG rated DVD for Broadcasting, to say they would bring in a DVD we don't own? Now we DO own probably 200+ appropriate DVDs for this class. But she writes up a story board for a movie we don't own. And Target doesn't own it either we discovered in our mad dash at 5pm to find the movie. Thankfully one of her equally crazy friends does own the movie and she baled us out.
And then this morning. Oh! This morning was entertaining. She missed the bus so I drove her to school. Coming through the neighborhood we pass a girl fishing. Bunny looks at her and says "What teenager would be out fishing at 8:10 in the morning?" I joke "Maybe she's just out walking her fish?" and Bunny, bless her heart,pauses and then says (I promise) "You can't do that, can you? Walk a fish?" We discussed the possibilities of how and why you might walk a fish and then decided overall it wouldn't be a very nice thing for the fish however we worked it.
Driving on, Bunny commented that she really didn't want to go to school today. (What a surprise!) As we made the last turn to school she piped up "Why don't we just go on to Chik Fil A and you and I can hang together today, mom? It's okay. I promise." She said it so nonchalantly, like it might even be an option, that I almost took her up on it. Or at least let her be late for school so we could have a fast food breakfast together. Can't imagine Bella coming up with that idea anymore. She could easily come up with the "let's go on to Chik Fil A for breakfast" part but probably wouldn't if it had to include hanging with mom for the rest of the day.
Ahhh. Teenagers. And almost teenagers. I hope I survive. Life is good, no matter what.

Emancipation Day!

Free at last! Free at last! The first day of school and all the kids are gone. While summer is anxiously awaited it never seems to quite be as carefree as we would hope. Boy had 6 weeks of summer school. Bunny spent 4 weeks in a cast. Bella was lucky and got to go away with a friend for a few weeks. So while I don't have the worries of toddlers-no fretting about car seats or diapers or where to park them for a moment of peace- there is the worry of preteens and teenagers. All that summer freedom brings concerns of where they are and who they are REALLY with. Sex! Drugs! Rock and Roll! By the time the last week of August rolls around, the safety of knowing where they are for 8 straight hours starts to sound pretty good. So this morning I waved goodbye to Boy as he drove himself to school for the first time. Bella came along to take Bunny to school so she could get dropped at her friend's house - no walking into middle school by herself for that girl! The most excited household member might have been Big Dog who LOVES the routine. What excitement! A car ride to the middle school. A walk to the bus. And then - quiet. The house to myself. Ahhhhhhh. Big Dog and I relax.
And that lasted until 3:30pm when in bops Bunny with a manila envelope full of papers to sign,forms to fill out. Bella gets picked up and hands me another sheaf of papers. "These need to be back signed tomorrow." Boy stops by his friend's house before coming home so I am spared his packet of papers. For a while. He promises to give them to me once he has "all" of them but how will he know when that is? O well.
So all survived the first day. Bella has friends in all of her classes. Bunny loves her morning teacher. And Boy apparently had the best day of all as he came home with a huge hickey on his neck-which he admitted he got "at school". New girlfriend apparently. Eek. Life is good but life is crazy.