Tweens!

Have you ever said to yourself "who are you and what have you done with my child"?  I seem to be saying that a lot lately, you see I have a tween.  A tween is a youngster between the ages of nine and 12 and considered too old to be a child and too young to be a teenager.

My ten year old, sorry I was just corrected.  My 10 1/2 year old and I have always had a good relationship.  I have always told my children that they can come talk to me anytime day or night.  There have been many 3 a.m. talk sessions (I would not trade those for anything).  Lately it seems as though we are doing more butting heads than talking.  When I ask my son to do anything from homework to completing his chores.  I am greeted with huffing and puffing, rolling of the eyes, talking under his breath, and my favorite "I hate this, why do I have to do everything" stomp stomp stomp.  Where is my sweet child who wants to curl up on the couch and read a book with me?  I know that he is trying to assert his independence, figure out who he is and what he likes and doesn't like, but sheesh I want my lovable little boy back.

I was talking to my mom on the phone and telling her about what we have been going through.  I could actually hear her SMILING, especially when she told me "I had one like that, no make that two".  I had better practice saying the Serenity Prayer because in a couple of years I will have a teenager and another tween.

I have noticed that there is a ton of information about tween girls, but there doesn't seem to be the same emphasis on tween boys.  Why is that?  Boy go through a lot of changes during this stage as well.

Feeling The Pressure

This year I decided that I really needed to challenge myself by stepping out of my comfort zone.  Comfort zone can be defined as feeling secure, comfortable or in control of the situation one is in.  The first thing I did was to tell my friends and family of my plans (gulp).  This was met mostly with "Hey, that is a great idea", a couple of people asked "Why do you want to do that".  My response each time was that I have gotten to comfortable in life and I don't take chances anymore. The second thing I did was to start this blog.  I thought this would be a great way to journal my journey with getting out of my comfort zone, with being a wife, mother to two boys and for anything that makes me stop and think.  So far it has been fun to blog.

Here is how I am starting to feel the pressure.  So far I have only done three things out of my comfort zone, and they have been to start blogging, eat at a Turkish restaurant and touch a shark.

Recently I took the boys to the Newport Aquarium in Kentucky.  After spending a wonderful time looking at everything we ended in the last area of the aquarium, the shark petting area.  I got really excited about doing this, since I had never done it before.  I spent a lot of time watching the sharks swim around before I decided that I could do this.  As I was reaching into the tank to touch a shark another patron started talking about some sharks not having teeth, the attendant quickly said "No, that isn't true" and then pointed out a sign that read "Sharks may bite".  So I chickened out, after standing there for a few minutes both of my boys told me that they thought I should touch the shark anyway especially since my motto this year is to "step out of your comfort zone".  That's it I am going to do it.  The second and third attempts end up the same way as my first attempt, pulling my hand away before touching the shark.  The attendant was great and helped me by giving me some guidance on how and when to touch the shark.  I finally did it!  The shark felt nothing like I figured it would.  The shark was very smooth and not rough at all.  Both of my boys decided that since their mom had touched a shark they should do it too.  After several attempts they also touched the shark.

A shark tooth necklace

Several days later my husband and I took the boys to Great Wolf Lodge.  If you have never been to Great Wolf Lodge, it is a hotel with an indoor water park.  We happened to be there with a lot of our friends and their children.  I am terrified of heights, so climbing up stairs to get up to the water slides, is not my idea of a good time.  I was trying to calm myself down and working up once again to step out of my comfort zone. Unfortunately it never happened.  I was completely happy in the wave pool, lazy river, and the lower watersides (that my six year old called boring).  I started to get very uncomfortable with the idea of stepping out of my comfort zone when I repeatedly declined to go on the slides with my friends and family.  At one point a friend called me a wet noodle because I would not go on the slides.  While I know that my friend was joking around it made me stop and think about whether or not I was really ready to take on this challenge. While I may not be ready to step out of my comfort zone in every situation, I am ready to at least try.  What makes you stop and think am I really ready for this?

Great Wolf Lodge 1

Great Wolf Lodge 2

Great Wolf Lodge 3

Great Wolf Lodge 4