Your life is different, but I do understand.

My life is different, but I do understand...

Oh beloved teenager, as we sit on my bed after another teen years mother-daughter quarrel that in the end we will never really remember the reason why we argued you spoke a sentence that struck a chord, it struck a chord because I remember saying it to my own mother, "My life is so much different than yours, you will never understand."

Yes, your life is different than mine, but not quite that much. I know we've moved you around a lot showing you the world. We have done this because it was a dream of ours to make you a citizen of the world. Let you experience as many different culture as possible. Growing up my life was great, but I always craved more. So, yes, your life is different but I do understand.

I know school is hard. Believe it or not I was there once upon a time as well. I know you have PSAT, Personal Project, eAssessments, plus all your regular work...but guess what when I was in high school we had all the same things, they were just spaced differently, graded differently. So, your life is different, but I do understand.

I know you have a lot on your plate this year and my immature jokes are annoying, but I only want to make you feel better. I know the kids can be crappy, teachers can be tough, and the workload may seem unbearable, but you are smart and organized...just like me, so I know you will get through it. School was the same in America as it is in The Netherlands. So, your life may be different, but I do understand.

So, dear teenager, as I wipe away your tears,that came as a result of my tickle attack to make you smile...know that I attacked my Dad the same way and burst in to tears every time he tried to tickle me to raise my spirits and let me know this isn't the worst day I will ever have. See there, your life is different, but I do understand.

Just know that every test I schedule you to take, every essay I proof read signal the days are winding down of you being a full time resident in our home. So, while you have the stress of completing papers, projects, and studying for impending examinations I do understand because as parents we are deal with the stress of you flying the coop and leaving us with an empty nest. So, right now our lives are very different, but they flow together, and I DO understand.

My Life Story in 292 words

So, today's challenge topic is: Your life story in 300 words or less. 

This was hard for me! I have a lot I want to say about my life!!! But, this is about the gist of my life in a nutshell. It wound up being 292 words in total. I can't wait to read everyone else's!!!

Mi Familia

I was born and raised in 1980 in Jacksonville, FL to two amazing parents and a great brother who was 8 years older than me. When I was 4 my parents had a home built and we moved in there, which is where I met my best friend of 28 years. I went through life like any other child, we played outside until the street lights came on, sometimes later as we would get the flashlights out and play flashlight tag. I grew up and changed into a teenager. I met my first real boyfriend in 9^th grade and went to prom, and then in 10^th grade I went to a rival high schools prom where I actually met a guy that would be my future husband.  My next year of high school, my 11^th grad year, I worked my butt off and graduated early after doing some dual enrollment at the local college. That is where I met (again) that guy from 10^th grade prom. We moved quickly and were married within 6 months of dating. That December we welcomed a beautiful baby girl into our family and he joined the military which took us on a crazy journey around the country. We lived in Lompoc, CA, Denver, Co, Satellite Beach, FL, and Orlando, FL. After we both graduated from University we moved to Topeka, KS where I began teaching and found a career field I love. After the hubs finished law school we moved back “home” to FL but it wasn't really where our hearts were so hubby changed career fields and we've since moved to Austin, TX, Santa Monica, CA, and now Vancouver, BC. I am currently a keeper of my home and starting a blog and Etsy Business.