I love snowmen so when I received an email about a snowman pretzel deal I couldn't pass it up. I have entirely fallen off my clean eating dairy and gluten free lifestyle and gah can my gut and head tell. I'll deal with that soon enough but for now I"m finding bits of joy revealed in silly little things like snowman shaped carbs.
Voice:
From the New York Times
"I have long thought that when it comes to being a parent in the pandemic, it might be the hardest for parents of teenagers. Parents of little ones can meet most of our children’s social needs, and our kids still kind of want to be around us. Not so for parents of teens. I recall with poignant shame what a complete nightmare I was at 16 when I was told, for various sensible reasons, that I could not hang out with my idiot friends. I can only imagine the epic battles that would have ensued had there been a pandemic raging, keeping me from hotboxed station wagons.
So in fairness to teens in 2020, this is a particularly difficult time to be young. “Pandemic conditions are at cross currents with normal adolescent development,” said Lisa Damour, Ph.D, a clinical psychologist and the author of The New York Times’ Adolescence column. The most powerful forces driving development for middle and high schoolers are increased independence over time, along with being with one’s peers, Dr. Damour said, and the virus curtails both of those things."
Yep, it's hard. All of it. Being a teenager is its own kind of tricky but in the middle of a pandemic. OH! It's really, really hard. Nobody wants to work on a hobby or keep exercising or log into school. We don't even feel like getting dressed. But we do. It takes might and faith and belief that we will all be ok. And sometimes we make fruit Christmas trees on a gloomy afternoon and that is enough to make us smile.
