The Emotional Rollercoaster of Parenting

Bloody hell , what a rollercoaster the last four weeks have been!

We have still been trudging through the lows but celebrating the highs as well. Mr Middle turned 18, Mr Eldest has suddenly become an adult before my eyes, and Mr Youngest came out of his room the other day to talk to me! Yep, some amazing things going on in our house!  

I have continued to video document my personal reaction from the parent's POV in supporting my son's loss of a friend. The second video documented the anger I was feeling about the whole shitty situation. Processing the elements that made me angry/protective/defensive, with the taint of the futility of feeling the way I did. Again, I hope it can offer parents the knowledge that there is a wide variety of emotions we go through in a situation like this. You can watch it here: The Honest Truth Part Two

But it was not all on the side of sadness. As mentioned, Mr Middle turned 18. We had his party at our place and it was a scream! A great night with a bunch of awesome people.  Hosting an 18th in your home! Are you freakin CRAZY! blog available in this e-news. No photo of the 'shoey' sadly (or thankfully!). We were very proud of him (most of the time) and his friends. #TeensAreAwesome !!

And, the event that should have warranted a national holiday, Mr Youngest came out of his room and said 'hello'.       I think I will just leave that there. (MIRACLES!!)

 So, have a scroll through and check out what else Talking Teens has been up to, another radio interview, new video, the release of a new bonus e-course chapter #DifficultConversations, a new blog post and much more!  

So, welcome September, and thanks to coffee and wine for getting me this far so far! 

Cheers Jo xx

And the random blood test on Sunday...

The joke that prompted a serious question

I admit that the jokes that Mr Middle and I share between one another can be in poor taste. It is not uncommon for us to joke about him providing a urine sample after going out with his mates. I know it might be considered wrong and even making light of a serious situation, teen drug use, but it is actually reflective of my zero tolerance of drug use. Drugs scare the shit out of me and I have drilled it into my teens that drug use has no place. So the funny 'ha ha' threat of a blood test is said in jest but with a serious undertone. So I made a passing joke about the random Sunday drug test in a post on the Talking Teens Facebook page. 

I was joking, but for one mum, however, it was not a joke. She asked if being able to do drugs tests was a possibility as she had serious concerns about her son. What started as a joke became a real question from a concerned mum and it deserved to be answered with the seriousness it deserved. It prompted me to do a video response and create a free download on ways in which you can see if your teen might be doing drugs...without having to resort to extreme measures. 

The reality is, drug tests are available to purchase online. But is it really the best thing to do to your teen? Nothing says "I do not trust you" more than a drug test, and the message that it sends can cause irreparable damage to your relationship. So, if you are concerned that maybe your teen is doing drugs, BEFORE you push the panic button, my suggestion is to do some investigating first. 

Video - Talking About Teens Doing Drugs          

Free download - Talking Teens and Drugs 

Talking Teens Socials Update

Communication is key!

I am so excited about a few projects I have in the pipeline that last week I picked Mr Eldest up from work at 4.30am, when we got home I just had to stay up and work on these things! Crazy I know! 

As many of you are aware, Talking Teens has a great 10 day    E-course called #10Days2TeenTalk   It has been designed for busy parents who can not sit down to a webinar at 10am on a Wednesday because, you know - we go to work! There are 5 days where you are asked to 'do something' (it is a learning course, so yes it involves doing something!) but the other 5 days are reflection days. And unlike other courses, it does not expire and you can refer back to it as many times as you like.

                But here is the best thing: I can now announce that the BONUS to the course!                                How to have a difficult conversation e-book will be available this weekend!

This e-book will retail at $9.95 independently, but if purchased with the e-course, $25 will get you BOTH! Communication is KEY to raising teens and keeping your sanity, trust me x

 Already done the #10Days2TeenTalk course? Fear not, if you are happy to send me a video testimonial of the e-course, I will send the e-book to you FREE! Contact me via hello@talkingteens.com.au for more information 

Uber lunches and 7am radio interviews

High school students using Uber-Eats to order lunches at school

Ali Clarke from ABC Adelaide was a little surprised (I would say gob-smacked) that high school students are ordering Uber-Eats to deliver food at school. Mine have tried and failed. One school has gone to the trouble of banning the practice for security reasons. And to be honest, having a stranger turn up at a high school is not really the smartest thing. But is this practice really a new thing? I mean, teens have never liked what mum packs into a lunchbox. We use to sneak out of school to head to the local milk bar for a lunch we could probably actually buy at the canteen: but it was fun, exciting, breaking the rules, and seemed like such a grown-up thing to do. I think if your teen is doing this, perhaps a calm conversation about the safety element and maybe ask if they actually like the vegemite and cheese sandwich cut into triangles really wets their appetite at lunch? Perhaps get them involved in preparing their own lunches: Uber-adulting!

Listen to this (7am pre-coffee!!) interview here!

Exciting things are afoot Watson

Sometimes the universe aligns and your path crosses with someone amazing and strangely enough amazing things happen. A collaboration will be taking place soon and boy do we have some exciting things on the vision board. The brains-trust has only just begun but I am so excited I could squeal.  *Sigh*

In other news, the Talking Teens book is coming along nicely (the 4.30am starts make more sense now) and all I can say is that I am glad my best friend is an editor and will intervene before I release the book, otherwise it will be the first draft that goes out: just so excited!! The big question is, will it be out in time for Christmas? We shall see x

Blogged!

Well that is it from me for this month. I would like to welcome those new subscribers, and give squishy hugs to all of you. As always, if you want to have a chat, please feel welcome to drop me a line. Maybe one day soon we can do a zoom hang-out where we can actually sit down with a drink and have a live chat!? If you are up for that, let me know! Maybe we could do a regular weekly thing? Let me know.

Cheers for now

Jo xx