Military MOM!

HELP! Someone took my sweet funny Ben and replaced him with a grumpy teenager! He looks like Ben...but the attitidue is not MY Ben! UGHGHGHG! LOL! We have had a very challenging week....butting heads every day about nonsense! He broke his zipper on his hoodie so I went out the next day to 3 different thrift stores to find him a decent hoodie. See the striped hoodie with the baseball cap above? Paid $3.50 and it's in mint condition and very good quality...so what does he say to me? "It's not black...I'm not wearing it." I just looked at him in disbelief...since when has fashion been a focus for a kid that I have to beg to shower for crying out loud!...So I said to him "Next time I will look for bright pink with flowers." Dead panned it! The look on his face was PRICELESS! He knows Military Mom will do just that....so he took the hoodie and has worn it every day since. HA! to you sweetie pie...lol....

Having not had a teenager to parent before I went in search of information. "How to talk to your teenage son?" The psycho babble was endless!!!! Find out what his hobbies are? Are you kidding me? Like I wouldn't know that already? Found one site that did ask you to check your tone of voice....good thought...check your eye contact and body language...more good points...but the rest of it was like I didn't know basic communication skills or even know my son at all. And people pay to read these books? Give them away and use some common sense!

And then today...he had a dentist appointment and boxing practice. He announces that he will go to one and not the other and I choose. REALLY BEN? Told him he is going to both..PERIOD..or his computer and PS3 are mine for a week. And then he said I was "Evil" and "Mean"....so I said the first thing that popped in my head. "Good thing I'm not your best friend then"...dead panned it again! LMAO! He laughed then I started acting like a zombie saying "Evil...evil...evil" Got him laughing again.

Okay...we are sort of communicating here...good stuff. But it is so much harder to draw him out then it ever was.....and he is so much grumpier than he ever was. Patience is the word for the next 12 years as one after the other boy go into the teen years. And I'm glad I layed the groundwork early in that when Military Mom comes out she means business. Have always followed through with my "threats"..lol...so all the boys know if I say they will lose a privilage or a treat they do. Have bought ice cream for 3 while the 4th got none...big meany that I am..lol...but really....if I give those 4 an inch I will be toast! Raising boys is hard work....raising them on your own exhausting! So I created the Military Mom persona for those really difficult situations....and as they all head into the teen years those situations get harder. Testing my authority, mood swings, being physically bigger than me and getting into my space on purpose....it's gonna be a hell of a ride!

So went thrift store hopping on Tuesday and got Ben two hoodies, Joe an awesome winter jacket, a couple of shirts, a baseball hat, a winter vest for me and two pairs of pants.....all for the whopping price of $31.50!!!!! SWEET! Could not find any shoes in decent condition...sigh...but will keep trying!

So we are 33/34 without retail! Woohoo! But Valentines Day is coming up and I am not making 80+ valentines by hand in the middle of tax season. So will buy new ones and take the hit....unless some lovely creative Mom out there makes them? Will pay of course...lol....

Big Military Mama love to you all! XO