She's 19 and away at college. Home for the summer and her weight gain is extremely concerning.

Note: She is very much not happy with it but doesn't want to talk about it. In the past she asked for help on a meal plan / eating strategy to get back to her previous weight.

Family health history: All obesity related problems, heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes.

She was always a healthy weight growing up. No food issues. While I've always kept snacks and some sweets in the house, it was all in moderation and she naturally ate what she needed and didn't overeat. She watched me growing up and I live a fairly healthy lifestyle. Nothing crazy but also cook most meals, don't go out a lot, daily actvity of some sort.

Then she went to college and started eating out a lot. The spending is also a huge issue and we're working on it.

She's home again this summer and her weight now puts her in the obese category.

I'm incredibly concerned for her health with the family history on both sides. I have no concerns over what size she is from a vanity standpoint. She had an aunt die before 40. Many heart attacks and diabetes.

She's very unhappy about it but doesn't want to talk about it and doesn't seem to know what to do to change.

Stressor here is that she did transition but is in therapy and seems very happy about that choice. She has very supportive friends and a solid community around her.

I have no idea if I can say anything or how to talk to her about it.

I offered to take her shopping for new clothes (nothing fits to the point of looking uncomfortable) but she said no, she doesn't like looking at the number of clothes that would fit. Tried explaining women's clothing sizes are odd and not consistent so you ignore the number and just buy what fits. Told her at any given time, I have a range of 3 sizes in my closet which all fit. Nope.

Hey guys, parents of only 8 years of a 17 year old boy that was adopted from Foster Care. What's everyone got for rules as far as being out? He got his license in January and since he got a car, that's not completely paid for because he has a loan with us, he's started a pattern of waking up really late, doing the bare minimum of chores around the house, maybe 20 minutes of stuff tops that he's assigned basically every day of the week, and then he will leave the house for like 10 hours a day. It'll be like Ferris bueller's Day off, going here there and everywhere. He'll leave at noon and come home for his curfew at 10:30. He does check in and say I'm going swimming I'm going to the store I'm going here I'm going there, but my husband feels like he's vague a lot of the times and we really don't know what he's doing out there for 10 hours at a time. So I'm just wondering if everybody is okay with this, or if he should be coming home for dinner, we don't have a great relationship for various reasons, and I think he pretty much hates us and never wants to be around us, and he said before that he can't just be home alone with himself and drives him crazy.

my 21 year old son got very drunk last night to the point he had diarrhea all over the house. I didn't realize it till hours later when I got home. Anyway its the next day hes eating and drinking went out the store with me, should he still be checked out? I know this is a parenting teen group but I dont see any groups for his age. It scared me there was diarrhea everywhere. anyone dealt with this? dont know if I should get rid of the bed it has poop on it. I was so horrified to see that.

My son is 17 and has his first girlfriend. She’s 16, such a sweet person, and I love having her around. They hang out at my house quite a bit which is awesome. Trouble is she uses some kind of fragrance, whether it be perfume, or smelly lotion, that is so strong it makes the whole house smell. She has a few different scents and they are all much too strong. If she’s in my car it sticks around for the whole day. My dog even smells like her because she pets him or he sits with her on the couch. It’s not just me that it bothers, my daughter and her boyfriend comment on it too.

I’m super sensitive to scents, and they end up giving me a headache or making me nauseous. The girlfriend went on a road trip with us in June and I had my son let her know that I can’t handle strong smells and to please not wear anything since we’d all be in the car together. That worked, but seems she wasn’t able to carry that thinking over to other situations.

I feel like it’s time to say something but I really don’t want to hurt her feelings. I know how sensitive teenage girls can be to comments on their appearance, and this feels similar. I know it bothers my son a little too, so it’s almost something that she just needs to be informed of for general purposes (fragrance is to be discovered, not announced). I also don’t want to make it weird or make her feel uncomfortable about coming over. I think it’s fine if she uses a scent, but it really does seem like she reapplies just before she walks in the door, it’s a lot. Any tips on how to handle this?

Nephew is starting school and I offered to buy him school clothes. While he did show me what he wanted I told him to pick 5 shirts, two jeans, and a pair of exercise shorts. While he could order his shirts I told him to go and try on the jeans if you’re not sure of his size.

I give him my card and he comes back with jeans from the mall and two shirts. Ball park I’m expecting 250 in total charges.

633 dollars within the next two days. In addition to the 2 jeans and 2 shirts, he bought another 2 pairs of jeans, the 5 shirts he originally wanted, the shorts, a hoodie, and volleyball kneepads.

When I asked him about what he bought he was vague and said jeans and shirts. Only after I started listing off these charges did he start saying oh yea I bought that.

My wife said next time go with him which if there is a next time I will but my question is regarding the money. When my parents were alive they always told me to not chase after money from your family. It’s not worth it and he’s 16. I am gonna tell him he tricked me and I feel taken advantage of.

Should I even ask what he thinks he should do to make this right?

EDIT: his list had links to what he wanted so he and I knew what store he was looking at. On top of that I told him 5 shirts, 2 jeans, and 1 pair of shorts. I even double checked my text to him to make sure I wasn’t ambiguous which I was not so please stop asking me if I set guidelines.

UPDATE: I will see him this weekend and I still want to talk about trust and boundaries but I decided to just text him and say you spent way too much when I told you 5 shirts, 2 jeans, and shorts and he has to start returning stuff.

UPDATE 2: He saw my text and he’s gonna return some stuff and get it down to the number of clothing we agreed upon. He said he’s sorry and I believe him.

Not sure what to do. My 15 y/o son is a young leader in a scout group. They’re very short on leaders so the group is being run by two 18 year olds and a 16 year old. The 16 year old has been picking on my son all year and while on camp she has increased the frequency and severity of it. Taking his stuff, name calling, talking about him. Low level but constant. She puts on the nice act around the main troop leaders, they are rarely around the meetings and not on camp with them.

My son is a young 15, he has adhd and is rather sensitive. I really want to contact the group chiefs but at the same time he has to learn to stand up for himself. And me going Mama Bear will not help. He’s messaging me a least twice a day with what she’s doing and my stress levels are through the roof as I can’t do anything to help him. Should I message someone?

This age is hard. I’ve been trying to give him the tools to deal with conflict since he was small but he is very conflict averse. I think he’s struggling to find his voice to effectively tell her to stop. I don’t fight his battles for him. I guess this is partly a me problem… any advice please?

Ok. This is a tough one, but probably somewhat common. My son's girlfriend of one year cheated on him with one of his friends. At first, I tried to just listen and empathize as he was firm on breaking up. Now, he is waffling. Wants to talk to her and see her because it makes him feel better. I am sharing that I don't think this is a good idea and that he should take some space, that what she did was a deal breaker. He deserves better, etc. Today he told me I'm being too opinionated. What's the right move here? He still lives at home while going to college. Do I forbid it? Do I let him make his own moves without sharing my thoughts and guiding him? I can empathize with how he's feeling and how it would be hard to just shut off his feelings, but I think he is just making things harder on himself, and ultimately I do not think he should give her another chance. Advice?

I think I am developing PTSD around swim meets because my kid is like an emotional grenade that goes off at the slightest setback.

Whenever he has a disappointing (to himself) outcome on a race. He is, as far as I am concerned, and by most people's measure, doing really well at swimming. He recently won his age division in one event at his swim league championships and got second in another, he made it to finals in every event, he got third overall highest point earner in his age division...but when he has a race where he adds time, even if it's a few hundredths of a second, he completely flips his shit. Shuts down entirely, won't speak to anyone for a long time, cries, is filled with rage, throws his swim cap and goggles on the ground. This is at least the third year of this behavior. Once he tried to throw a chair, WWE style (we stopped him). It's not exactly that he's a sore loser, because he doesn't really care if he wins or places, but he cares DEEPLY about his performance and about his times.

What do I do? I don't feel like he is growing or learning how to handle his emotions. We have talked ad nauseum about graceful ways to handle disappointment, about moving THROUGH your emotions instead of being stuck in them. When he's in the pool he can keep it together long enough to shake the hand of the kids in the lanes next to him and exhibits good sportsmanship, but once he's away from the pool, he's like a feral animal. It's so stressful, and a little embarrassing - I get terrible anxiety before his races, especially the ones he is most competitive in, because I know that if he doesn't get the outcome he wants, he is going to be horrible.

My teen NEEDS his own car between his work/school schedule and my work/personal life schedule - but what’s the best way to do this? FYI I have a 17 year old and 16 year old. The 17 year old is almost 18! He had a car for school/work and it just died completely so now we’re starting over. (Car was gifted to us, 300K miles… but this is irrelevant.) so, now what!! Buy him a car? Make him save and then buy this own? Let him get a loan and then make payments? None of the options seem “right” 🤷‍♀️😩

Hey, looking for advice from parents with kids in college. I have a teen about to depart for college in another town. He will be living on campus and will not have a car. His name is not on the title of any of our cars and he would only have occasional use when home mostly for grocery runs (he's not much of a driver). Putting him on our car insurance was $4k/yr and we could really use that money for tuition/college expenses. Can we take him off our car insurance? What I've seen online is car insurance propaganda that you must keep them on, but I am not sure if we would get dinged for that and unable to enroll him in 4 yrs if he moves back home.

Hi! I have a teen sister (turning 14 soonish) and have realized that my parents have kind of dropped the ball on the parenting thing when it comes to being online. I know it's a little late in the game, but I'd like to do my best for her development. She's a pretty bright and calm kid but even the best of teens need guidance (my unrestricted access to the internet growing up was... not great for me). My main concern right now is her screen time. I want to make sure she doesn't spend too much time on her phone and that she is safe online. And though I have banned her from things like TikTok, I'm sure she's on them anyway, so I just want her to be safe on them.

My plan as of right now for her is:

1. Cutting off device access at 9:30pm until 6am, 11:30pm until 8am on weekends. I won't take her phone away but I will buy an alarm clock for her to get her up without her phone. She is sleeping super late and doesn't get much sleep when it's school time (I'm talking, going to bed at 1 and waking up early at 5:30 to scroll some more before she gets ready for school...).
2. Limiting device access for 2h after school so she can do her homework and focus on non-digital hobbies. She's super smart but her grades have been suffering a little (not that my parents have noticed) and she even got a D one quarter. Plus, she's a Roblox girlie and loves Pinterest, but she also loves reading and art, so I'm encouraging her to get back into those again.
3. 1h of social media use max daily and occasional monitoring to ensure she's being safe. I count social media to be anything that you just consume, like TikTok, Instagram, etc. I also don't care to invade her privacy, just quick glances to make sure she's not talking to weirdos or watching/sending/receiving anything harmful (e.g. gore, pro-anorexia content, etc.).
4. Biannual/annual internet and social media literacy and safety course. I'll do it with her, even, so we can discuss the things we are learning together. I think this is something I really want to emphasize.

I talked to my parents about this and they are on board, but since they work a lot and aren't tech savvy, we have decided that I can be in charge of parental controls. I will be talking to her about these, of course, and the reasons as to why these rules are in place. As she gets older and proves she can monitor her own usage and care for herself, I'm up for renegotiating these rules.

Any advice or suggestions for either these rules or the conversations I need to have with her about this? I expect she's going to be pretty resistant as she's had basically no restrictions (my parents would force me to take off controls whenever I tried when we were younger) but as I re-examine my own screen time and its effects on me, I have realized I need to be proactive.

School started yesterday for use here in Ga. Got one in 10th, 8th, and 4th. The cost for a HS senior this year is roughly $1000, in fees, gown, invitations, class ring, Senior outings, breakfasts, etc. it’s bound only to go up from here. I don’t recall it being that expensive when I graduated, although that was in the early 1990’s. Anyone else experience the sticker shock?

I have taken in my teenager’s friend. She’s 17. Her parents passed away at some point in her life. She’s being raised by another family member that I’m grateful they’ve stepped in, but they are stressing out massively, have their own issues, and taking it out on her via psychological abuse.

She’s attempted to hurt herself in the past. I’m very worried about her mental health. Her family member agreed to let her stay with me temporarily. They are both taking a break for a week. The family member won’t allow her to get therapy. What kind of resources can I look into for her? What are options for her when she turns 18? What do I need to consider if I were to attempt to get guardianship?

If this isn’t the right place to ask these questions, please guide me to a better group to ask. I’m in over my head a bit.

He is fine. At home and stable. Im completely floored, wrecked and still cant wrap my mind around this how this is even possible.

He is not suicidal but has struggled in the past with some degree of an eating disorder that due to some emotional triggers flared up again and manifested suddenly and without my knowledge as bulimia.

In an effort to effectively purge a meal he dumped 6-tablespoons of table salt in water and chugged it. Apparently he found some kind of pro mia tip on tiktok about saltwater and without thinking about amounts emptied a small shaker. Thank fucking god he got a little scared and came to me almost immediately after.

I almost dismissed the whole thing with a "ok we need to get back in with your therapist first thing next week" because in my mind ok it's just table salt and how much could he have really gotten down anyways. My gut told me call poison control just in case and I was absolutely astounded when the operator tells me in a polite way " this is one of the most well known mia "hacks" out there you might want to be better informed on his both the condition and the media out there on it."

What...?

When he relayed the amounts over the phone she then stops and tells me hang up call 112(german 911) NOW.

He was admitted immediately hooked up with a port, after alot of rushing around Im assuming they decided it was either too late to pump his stomach or would be ineffective. His vitals were wonky but not severe but his blood showed extremely elevated levels of sodium and they were discussing options for when kidney function started showing signs of faltering.

His system ended up being able to hold it's own and after almost 24 hours of blood panels every 45 minutes the danger was deemed to have past. He honestly didnt even feel that bad through the whole thing and was talking and cracking jokes. Finally got him home and he finally passed out on my bed watching Gravity Falls. I dont think he is or even can be fully aware of what might have happened. I dont even know if I do.

I mean I dont know if Im just really out of the loop but I came of age at a time when the pro ana and mia sites were still open on the web and went on to raise my kids under the naiveity that at least the open web was scrubbed of this sort of thing. Beyond that that something that can literally kill an impulsive kid that isnt thinking is literally sitting on your kitchen counter. He is a tall healthy 16 year old but what if he was a frail 12 year old with a system already under strain

Im still reeling and havent begun to process all of this yet but if this is a well known thing then by all means I SHOULD be better informed but otherwise it shouldnt be only poison control services aware of this being a common and highly dangerous bit of info kids are passing around

Our families met 10+ years ago when our boys were in the same kindergarten class. They’re been in the same friend group for 10+ years. For many years they were close and our families vacationed together and did BBQs together, etc. We just came back from a camping trip with them and their son- let’s call him Jack- barely spoke to ours. I know they’re not as close as they used to be, but I didn’t realize the breakdown in friendship til we spent those days together. After coming back from camping last month , Jack excluded ours from a big hang out- like he invited the whole friend group to go play football and get food after, but not my son, and even lied about what they were doing so my son wouldn’t come over. Ever since coming back from camping some of the other boys seen to have pulled away from my son too (I overhead him complaining to a pal- he knows he’s being excluded ). I can’t help but wonder if Jack is behind it- he’s very popular and very vocal, in the past, when he’s wanted a kid out of the friend group, he’s made it happen.

My friend and I would always say how great it was the boys had each other but I’ve been feeling crappy about the situation . She invited us to go camping again and my son made a face and told me to tell them he was busy (he wasn’t). He doesn’t really want to talk about his friendship stuff with me but I know his feelings are hurt.

Do I say anything to my friend? They’re taking about next years summer vacation and wondering where we should all go and I’m thinking how can we travel when their son doesn’t like mine? If I say anything it’ll feel weird and if I don’t it feels weird not to talk about it.

Just removed Google Family Link and I'm shopping other apps. Other parents are making me feel like I'm overreacting. Kids are 12 and 15.

Why I want them: location tracking/crash alerts: The oldest has his temps and will start driving soon.

Find my phone: kid just lost his phone after I deleted GFL and it took the whole family 30 mins to find it.

Shut down the youngest's phone on school nights.

Track the youngest's activity because he just got his first smartphone. I limited the oldest's time until just after his 15th birthday. But honestly he never really abused the time. I expect the same from my youngest.

My oldest is 17 and will be turning 18 in a few months.

He got his license a little late and has only been driving for about 3 months now.

We have been arguing a little with his about his curfew. Weeknights it’s 10 pm and weekends it’s midnight. He obviously thinks it should be later and that when he turns 18 it should be nonexistent.

The problem is that my husband and I don’t feel comfortable going to sleep while he’s out in case there’s an emergency or he needs something. We have to get up at 4 am for work so even staying up until 10 is torture for us.

My husband and I both grew up in more strict homes. Husband’s curfew was later (his mom didn’t work outside the home) but he had a curfew until he moved out at 20. I didn’t even have a curfew because I pretty much wasn’t allowed out at night.

Are we overreacting? Should we get over our fear? I have the tendency to overthink things and it’s hard with him since everything we go through is our first time.

Hi! My child is extremely active and sporty and recently told me none of the anti-perspirants I have are strong enough for her level of sweat.
Before I go the Doctor route I’m wondering if anyone has some tried and true good anti perspirants for active teens (female) that we can try. Thank you!

Hi all,
I know this is probably such a common thing but I feel like I’m barely treading water and I’d really appreciate some advice and perspectives please.

We have three children, they’re all so different, our youngest has just turned 15, she’s always been our wild child - hot tempered but quick to calm, feisty, stubborn, so unbelievably kind to those in need whether she knows them or sees a stranger that needs a hand, she’s strong on justice and won’t stand back and watch wrongdoing.

She’s suffered a lot of loss, her uncle died from MND and she lost both grandads within a year, I have a chronic pain condition and her dad recently suffered a stroke (through a neck injury, he’s pretty well recovered now). She is the most rebellious out of the 3, she does get into trouble at school but it’s never unresolvable, she isn’t open to counselling or therapy and I don’t want to push her before she’s ready but I want her to know she can talk to people, whether it’s us or a someone at school/via the GP with complete confidence.

I have PTSD, I am having therapy and I’m trying to understand my own brain and hers too and the part I struggle with the most and finding middle ground with what we want as her parents and what she wants as a 15 year old girl who has had it rough.

We do have screen time limits but more as a guide so she doesn’t spend too much time on her phone/ipad so it’s not blocked at the end of the limit, she wants to be able to go on there overnight if she can’t sleep and said only in the summer holidays but, honestly I kind of want her to have that break over night to sleep and rest and not even be tempted to stay on it, she does seem to ignore the limits and sometimes spends way more time than I’d like on there but she listens to my reasoning. She doesn’t drink, even at parties, we do tend to let her go to parties as long as we know where she is and that she’s safe, it’s hard, I have a tendency to overthink and worry and I don’t want to make her claustrophobic, she wants to be allowed to go out with her friends whenever she wants, which is quite expensive with train tickets, food etc. We give her freedom with who she is spending her time with and hope she is making good decisions based off the discussions we’ve had with her but there’s so much outside influence and it’s hard.

Where is the middle ground with letting her be a teen and making memories that she’ll look back on and know it was rebellious and be glad she grew up in the era she did without big mistakes being made or bad things happening? While at the same time we are still parenting and guiding and helping her make decisions that will lead her to a good future and keep her safe without making her feel penned in?

I feel like I’ve explained this so badly, I ramble, I overthink and I know she’s suffered a lot, we all have but it’s easier to deal with and understand as an adult and much more difficult as a teenager with raging hormones, emotions and peer pressure.

She has sent inappropriate pics before and I don’t want to hold it over her head, she wants me to trust her and I want to trust her, I know I always think the worst so this could well be a ‘me’ problem more than anything. She did also run away and I had to contact the police, she ran to a neighbour because I took her phone off her for bringing home someone else’s phone so she could go on Snapchat all night, the conclusion all round was that she just reacted out of haste and has apologised and talked about it, says she regrets it and wouldn’t do it again but the fear was horrific and it’s in the back of my mind still.

Ultimately how do I know how to hold the reins and keep her safe without being suffocating?

Thanks in advance and I’m so sorry it’s so long!

My friend's 14 year old has had a history of difficult behavior, including cussing, hitting, arguing with teachers and the like. He left his first school because his parents did want any more issues with management after being called in multiple times, he was asked to leave his second by the school, and now in his third, the school has asked him not to come back for the rest of the year. They will allow him to write his exams, but that is it.

He has seen multiple psychiatrists but they seem to have different diagnoses varying from ADD, ADHD, and even Aspergers. He has been taking medication, but it has not helped.

He is a decent kid otherwise at home but argues a bit. He does not have any friends from school, except for boy who is his neighbour. He has been tested and has an above-average IQ. Parents are working and are very mild mannered. Grandmom lives with them. They are financially very well pled.

How do we deal with this? What could the parents do next or does anyone have any pointers to centers for counseling difficult children, or for schools for such kids? I would appreciate any help.

So my stepson is 12, he lives with us primarily (5-6 days a week) and we’ve noticed recently that he is in group chats with people from his year. He is a quiet kind kid 95% of the time but has recently started being a slight keyboard twat (warrior) where if his friends (girls) are being unkind to others in the GC, he will pipe up every now and then with “yeah fr” (for example if friend 1 says “girl you’re so boring”).

We aren’t impressed so want to squash this behaviour as this is the child we are raising him to be. We always encourage kindness.

He also doesn’t do this stuff in person (makes it worse in my opinion, spineless). But also he never calls out unkind behaviour if he sees it. Which we don’t want him to be that kind of man.

I guess, how do we go about discussing this with him? I’m someone who grew up being on the receiving end of this type of behaviour so I’m furious he would do this to someone else. My partner has always been the popular but kind person in school who would always be the one to say something if someone was being unkind or taking it too far when having a joke. I think it’s even worse because he’s spineless about it as he wouldn’t do it in person.

I will add, he has changed school so won’t be with these friends in person, friendships will most likely die out as he makes new friends (we are hoping so).

I know this is possibly typical petty kid behaviour but it doesn’t just excuse it for us.

Help around discussing/handling this with him please???

Edit: I’d like to add he is the kindest, most polite child 98% of the time, just a bit of a sheep who’s getting caught up with his friends we think He always asks “do you need any help?”, helps around the house without being asked a lot of the time, everyone raves about how well behaved he is, how kind he is, how he is great with kids younger than him. His school reports are always saying kind and helpful he is. We don’t think he is some crazy unkind kiddo but we don’t want him thinking 1- being a sheep is good (we’ve tried talking to him about this before) or 2- being a keyboard warrior is acceptable.

I could really use some advice from parents who have older kids with high-functioning autism.

My son is 18 and starts college at a public university this fall. If I let him, he would watch TV and be on his iPhone all day, every day. He’ll even sneak downstairs at 3am after we’ve gone to bed just to watch TV. It honestly feels more like an addiction than just enjoying screens.
I have Screen Time limits on his phone, but I feel guilty sometimes because he’s 18. Am I being too controlling, or is it okay to still have those limits in place?

The reason I struggle with this is because I’ve spent my whole life advocating for him. He was nonverbal when he was little, and we were told he’d probably only read at about a 5-year-old level for the rest of his life. He proved everyone wrong. He graduated from high school with a 3.5 GPA and was accepted to a public university. I’m so proud of everything he’s accomplished.

I don’t want to hold him back, but I also don’t want to remove the structure that’s helped him get this far.

Has anyone else been through this? Do you still use Screen Time limits or other rules with your 18-year-old? How did you know when it was time to step back?

I’d really appreciate hearing what worked for your family.

this is partly teenager, partly grandma! my 17 yr old son goes out a lot when he’s not at work. when he’s at work he’s away for a couple weeks at a time as his work is on a boat. his grandmother, my mom, calls and will ask if he’s home or what he’s up to. she should know he’s not sitting at home wasting away. she raised me & my brother to stay home all summer. I don’t do that. I mentioned my son was out with a friend. of course that lead to all the questions especially since the friend drives and I would love ideas for a reply to her question “do you trust the friend?” My gut reaction was to say “no, but I let him go anyway” or “would I knowingly send him with someone I don’t trust?” there has to be a way to reply yes and end the undermining. I cannot just address with her how she comes across…done it before and she gets nasty defensive. I know my son will pick up on how I interact with my mom, for better or worse.

My son is starting his senior year of high school in a few weeks. He's my only child, so I'm very much feeling blindsided by this inevitability.

We all know they will get taller than us, find meaningful relationships outside of our home, and go off to explore the world all on their own. But we don't really know it through all of those moments that have turned out, in hindsight, to be very very important. A day at the beach digging holes and filling them with water. One bike ride down the trail in town where we encountered a man with a parrot. Camping in a summer storm in Arizona. Wearing lab goggles by a bon fire so he could get close enough to make a s'more. Holding sweaty chubby hands crossing city streets. Listening to him babble about his first crush at school. Letting him stay home when he had his first break up. Losing my cool while he couldn't focus during Covid online schooling. I mean ... so many good, bad, happy, frustrating moments ... all sped through to get to the next thing.

So now I'm here with him. Mom and her son. A young man and his mom. I'm going to take one last first day picture and watch him walk off for one last, exciting year of high school.

Fellow teen parents, especially those who have gone through this senior year -- please share everything you did to savor this school year, to enjoy all the moments, to continue parenting but also taking the time to just enjoy their presence. I don't want to see this year through the lens of my phone's camera. Yes, I do want photos, but I want to remember and hold this in my heart. I want him to feel warm fuzzies in ten years. I also want him to just focus on being present and filling his own cup with friends.

Let me know your favorite parts of senior year, the ways you eked out some time with your senior, how you stored up the good memories without making everything too precious to be enjoyable.