Parenting Propaganda

I am the mother of a teenager. Sometimes I feel like I’m organizing a marketing campaign to remind my kid of basic truths. You know, those Big Life Lessons. Insert your chosen life lesson here. I’m sure this will come as a shock to absolutely no one… life is hard. Things can be rough. There are BIG FEELINGS. 

What I’ve found though is taking very simple steps to try to remind my teenager of the good and the possible can at least  take the edge off. This can be as simple as putting a photograph up on the fridge or (my personal favourite) making a calendar full of memorable events in our life. 

Images are powerful… just ask any teenager on Instagram. 

Parenting propaganda if you will. 

Highlighting those times when things didn’t suck. Or they did suck but we got through it anyway. 

Here is a picture of you jumping off that high rock in the Dominican. The time you were braver than a group of grown men who couldn’t decide if they were going to take the leap.

Here is a picture of that time we walked for 5 kms in our snow gear to get a greasy diner breakfast when you had a snow day. 

Here is a picture of us when we were tired and sweaty from raking leaves.

Here is a picture of you reading your favourite book, lounging in the hammock. The hammock that the dog chewed up later that summer and we had to throw away. 

Look at your hair! Look at that shirt!

Nothing radical happens. Solutions are not found. 

We are reminded of what we mean to each other and that is often enough.