Mother/Son article in Mothering

[glh]

I thought the article about the teenage years written by a mother and son in this month's Mothering was wonderful. It was true and honest and I've found that most articles about raising teens are neither. Most articles offer glib advice or write off teens as just being hormonal risk takers with no common sense or socially redeeming qualities. I especially loved reading the son's point of view, I wish I had read it when my oldest started his teen years.

[glh]

I guess I am the only one here that subscribes to Mothering.

[busymama]

I read the article and I ,too, thought it was awesome. It helped me relate to my almost 17 year old ds . Actually, I was reading the article when he walked in. I was able to focus and have a real quality conversation with him. We didn't talk about deep life issues or anything, it was just that I was listening with my heart unconditionally. That changed everything!! It affected the way he talked,his voice ,his body language. He could definately feel my openess towards him.
Thanks for bringing this topic up. I don't post very often as I don't usually have much time.

[emmaline]

Originally posted by glh
I guess I am the only one here that subscribes to Mothering.

oh no! I loved that article, I just wept buckets over it, the son (I have a Daniel too) sounded so thoughtful and self-aware and the mum so respectful of her children

[dlb]

I especially liked when the son said something to the effect that when he was a teenager, anything his mom said had to come through his chaos. I forget the exact wording, but it really resonated with me (I was reading it at the library, the very one that once dropped Mothering for lack of interest, until I went to one of the librarians and asked for its return, in the interest of balance).

Sometimes I think my son is deliberately being disrespectful when I speak to him, but the way the son talked about his inner chaos making it hard to really hear his mother seems to explain so much.

I also felt so much hope after seeing this article, just look, her son got through it, and seems to have turned into a sensitive, intelligent young man, who still talks to his mom.

dlb