Today I am officially the parent of ONLY teenagers. As someone who turned 40 last year, it sometimes feels a bit weird to think that my children are this old already. However, I really enjoy the fact that my kids are mature and old enough to take care of themselves in ways that younger kids cannot. I don’t need to worry about them when I have to run errands or meet up with friends. That little bit of freedom is amazing.

One of the interesting things about kids turning into teenagers is that hanging out with them is actually ‘hanging out’, not just ‘entertaining’ them. More often than not, when I’m doing things with my kids, it’s because it’s things that I enjoy doing as much as they do. This creates a very different dynamic than when dealing with 6 and 7 year olds, and it’s a lot of fun. It doesn’t mean that I still don’t have to remind them to take a shower, or take out the trash, or other general parent things. But it means that I’m enjoying the fruits of the parenting that we did when they were younger, as they start to develop into young adults.