Tweens are the new Teens

Prom time is fast approaching and my fifth grader is suddenly worried about who's going to ask her out if anyone, then I thought it was suitable to allow my 10 y/o to see the classic movie "Pretty in Pink" when it debuted in Nickelodeon last week. I asked her a lot of questions while we watched. What would you have done? How would you have felt? Why do you think they argued? etc. I made sure to explain whatever she didn't understand and we were both surprised to see how times have changed.

My daughters asked why were they allowed to drink and smoke in high school? Where are their parents in all of this? How come they let them do this?- referring to the party scene in the bedroom. Those where different times when smoking was less frowned upon. I was proud to see that she is capable of noticing what is inappropriate behavior for a child, even if they are teenagers, and it lets me know that she will make the right decisions when time comes.

As the end aproached and Molly Ringwald headed out to prom alone, I asked her, What would you have done? She said she would have called Duckie and ask him to go with her. When she saw that Dukie was there at the prom she figured they would end up together. When Andrew McCarthy approached her and Duckie told her to go with him, my daughter said that she would have stayed with Duckie and not gone back to the other boy. At that moment I was proud, because she gave friendship more importance that the romance of a boy who didn't know how to treat her properly.

It is nerve wracking when your children start to grow and think about dates, and crushes and sometimes it's hard to just stand back and watch even though you know those puppy dog crushes in the classroom never last, it is the beginning of the teenage years. It is a time of discovery, when you learn about yourself, your likes, your dislikes, you make your own friends, learn to make decisions, and when it comes to life it's all about the experiences that you get to have and what you make of it.  I know my daughters will make the right decisions and I have faith that they will end up marrying wonderful guys that will make them happy and will respect them. As for now, we can only stand back and watch, give good advice, trust them, let them know that we are here to pick them up if they ever get to fall and let them know that life is to enjoy it. Have fun, and do good things.