A Bad Day is OK

"I cried because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet."

This is a favourite saying of my sister-in-law. She quotes it whenever her teenage son or daughter is moping about the house. She used it a few days ago when her sixteen year old son was in a grump because his bike chain broke and ruined his plans to join his friends. This day he was frustrated enough to have an answer.

"Mom, I get what you're saying, and I feel bad for the guy with no feet. But it also really sucks to have no shoes."

I had to agree with my nephew. 

Ahh, the carefree days of youth. No worries, no stress. Just fun, fun, fun. Right?

I think we too easily forget what it's like to be a teen. They may not have the worries of a mortgage, or car payments, or a full time job, but their problems are real. We're all entitled to a bad day. Knowing someone else has it worse may encourage empathy, but it doesn't cancel out how your teen feels right now. A little understanding goes a lot further than platitudes.

Bad days happen to us all. Give your teen a break. And maybe a wide berth. 

Sunshine

My little one pointed to a hill covered with dandelions yesterday.

"Mom, look! No one ever picks the flowers there!"

I took a quick glance as we waited for the green light. "They sure don't," I said.

"I call those yellow flowers drops of sunshine, because they're like little drops of sunshine."

And in that instant, all those tufts of bright yellow did look like little drops of sunshine. It made me wonder when I started seeing weeds.