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.

That Time I Learned to Drive...

I have a 14 year old...she is about to turn 15. Normally, in the US this would mean we are preparing for the driving permit. She would have a book and be studying just waiting for that 15th birthday when she can get that little permit in her hands. However, living in a foreign country where you cannot drive until 18 she knows this won't be happening. The subject comes up every now and again and so that got me thinking about when I learned to drive. It was all pretty comical really...

I didn't actually start driving until right after or right before my 17th birthday, I think...I don't remember exactly when I just know it took me a while. When I turned 15 I was gung-ho about driving and got my driving permit shortly after turning 15. However, the first time I went out with my mom she yelled at me for driving too close to the side of the road. The 3rd time my dad took me out he took me around so I had to drive up the only hill in all of Jacksonville, FL. Of course this was at like 6 or 7 in the evening so there was traffic, so I had to stop at the stop sign. Then someone rolled up behind me. Close. I was in a manual car...which I still stalled out...often. After much yelling, me almost hitting the woman behind me, my dad wound up driving home because I was so paralyzed by fear. I still hate hills to this day. 

After that I didn't drive again...for a while...like months and months. So, my 16th birthday comes and goes and I am still catching a ride from people. Well, summer  going into my 11th grade year a friend says I NEED to get my license. So, coming home from the mall he has me drive his car. I didn't want to but he insisted it would be fine and promised to tell me when to go at the horrible four way stop by the mall. Wouldn't you know he says, "GO" I go, next thing I hear, "STOP!" ...and we got hit....by a woman who was in a "rage" and had completely blacked out. Awful. I never wanted to drive again.

Well, a month or so later my 11th grade school year starts, my BFF is still driving me to school and I talked to my counselor and decided to graduate from high school a year early. This means I need to take classes at the local college. Mom was not happy about taking me to college. Kind of laughable right. I was told I had to get my license. Mom couldn't teach me, Dad couldn't teach me so that left my brother. He was very relaxed pretty much let me drive how I wanted and so I did it.

My 17th birthday comes around and my dad takes me to the DMV. I ran a red light on my way there. Dad was not happy. Not sure what all I did wrong but it had something to do with me not putting my seat belt on fast enough, not turning the lights on quick enough, and I could have possibly done a U-Turn after being told I missed a turn during the test. So, I failed. Miserably. Go to another DMV...I failed again. No license for me that day. 17 and couldn't drive.

A few weeks later I go take the test again...I finally passed. 

I drove around what my friends and I coined the "brown turd"-a 1986 Pontiac-T1000..Hatchback. Had a lot of fun in that old car...couldn't keep a stereo to save its life, but had a lot of fun..even when I used a battery operated mini boombox for my musical entertainment! ha! 

After reliving all these hysterical experiences it is no wonder I don't like to drive and much prefer my walking/biking/transit using lifestyle!

So, how do you get around? What was your first car?

DIY: Christmas Countdown Calendar (Advent Calendar) +free printable!

I don't normally do much posting on the weekend, but this project has been in the works for a few days and with December 1 pending tomorrow I decided to make sure this got up today!

Now that American Thanksgiving is over, the holiday's are officially in full swing for my family! Even up here in Canada they had several "Black Friday" sales, it was fun to get out and pick up some goodies to put under the tree! I had also been working on getting something special prepped for my teenager for the holiday's. 

We always do some sort of advent/countdown calendar. I wanted this year's to be about more than just candy, but I also didn't want to give little trinkets that would just take up space and clutter up our small apartment. So, I came up with some clutter-less activities that allow us to spend time together as a family and give to those around us. Here is how I did it...

Supplies

• Advent Activities printed on Sticker paper
• Something to put the candy/activities in
• 1" punch
• Small Candy

I gathered my advent calendar, the printable I made, my 1" punch, and some Hershey's kisses.

I used these kisses:

They were all my Shopper's had...and they are amazing!

Above is the 1" punch I use. If you don't have one but you craft a lot I highly recommend this one by EK Success. It is compact, it is an "easy punch", and it can be used for a variety of things...namely bottle cap crafts! So, take this punch and turn it upside down like this: 

Centre it over the words and wreath, and punch! I punched all of mine out first... 

....and then stuck it to the bottom of the Hershey's Kiss!

Cute, huh?!

Then I put it behind the appropriate door! 

Now, something to keep in mind when deciding which activities to use is check your calendar. Some of the activities are quite easy and can be done even on a busy day. For example one is read a holiday book, another is have dinner in front of the Christmas Tree, have a red & green themed dinner. Those are things that don't really take any extra effort, but can go a long way in making great memories!

I printed this calendar and as I put the activities in the box, I wrote down what was being done on each day so that way each evening I can look ahead to what activity is on schedule for the next day so if it involves pancakes, waffles, hot cocoa, etc I can make sure those are prepped the night before; or, if it involves going somewhere I can make sure I tell everyone to be on schedule!

Now, how did I come up with the activity ideas? I tried to choose things that were cheap, mostly clutter-less, and ones that could help my teenager think of others. I scoured pinterest, facebook, and and several blogs looking for ideas, but most of them are unique because honestly most of the ideas I found involved a lot of "stuff" or expense. 

Here are the ideas I used and what I am doing for each one:

Hot Cocoa Breakfast with cookies

Cinnamon Ornament

Make an ornament

Design Your own Tree

Make gift for teacher(s)

Holiday Light Displays

Ice Skating-Sundae Bar

See a parade

Reflect on the year

Commemorate the day in video or pics

Look at neighborhood lights

Play Charades

Red & Green Themed Dinner

RAK Day

Have a dance party

Sing Carols

Game night

Make presents for cheer coaches

Snowboarding

Go play in the snow

Roast marshmallows in the fire

Go see a holiday movie in theater

Make goals for next year

Popcorn Garland

Mail Xmas Cards to friends

Xmas Trivia

Popcorn & Movie

Look @ Xmas Lights

Merry Christmas

Tree Lighting & Carol Ships (this is unique to our city, but your city may have a tree lighting)

Donate coats to a charity

Night Before Christmas (movie/book)

Donate a toy to charity

Bake Gingerbread Men

Make Fudge

Make puff pain snowflakes

Candle light dinner

Polar Express (movie/book)

Make mom & dad a present

Pancakes & Cocoa

Open Presents

Dress fancy for dinner

Bake Spritz Cookies

Write to Santa

Visit holiday attraction at a museum

Take a cookie basket to friends (use the cookies you've baked earlier in the countdown)

Do something nice for Mom & Dad

Magic Cookie Bars

Waffles & Cocoa

Living room fort

PJ Party

Christmas Market

Visit Santa

Dinner in front of Xmas Tree

Breakfast in front of Xmas Tree

List what you are thankful for

Craft Day

How the Grinch Stole Xmas

Send hug to out of town family

Look at the holiday window displays

Holiday Book

Xmas Movie

On Friday's and the days my teen is on holiday break I put in two activities because I really wanted us to be doing a lot together. I think this will be so fun.

Some ideas in the event you don't have an advent calendar like I do above....pin socks to a line of string hung on the wall, hang numbered socks on the tree and the let the kids pick them off each day, hang a string or string of lights and use numbered clothespins to pin pieces of paper with the day's activity to it. Think outside the box, have fun with it!

How do you kick off your holiday season???

I would love to see your holiday activities! Leave a link in the comments or some share with us on facebook!