February 1, 2024It’s a brand-new year and I’ve been meaning to write something new for a while, but have been sidetracked by my own shit and unrest. Happily, though, my formerly troubled daughter is making me so very proud. Every day, I feel prouder and prouder, and worry less and less.
August 3, 2023It’s now halfway through summer 2023, and I feel wonderful about my dear daughter’s progress in life. She took the position as a property manager in a West Coast city, encouraged and supported by her older sister (and OS’s boyfriend). It was a process, though, wow. Her sister flew over, helped her pack and sort, and together they drove a rental truck 11 hours to the new place. There were still a few days left on the old…
5/25/22 It’s absolutely amazing what can change in just a month. In the last four weeks, my formerly troubled daughter has gone from being in a toxic relationship and on the brink of losing her footing at work because of her personal life to living in her own apartment and being offered a new job in a large, multi-state company with a salary almost 20K more than she earns now! First, she recognized how unhealthy her relationship was. He was…
8/23/2017 Today is a very good day for this mom. I’m full of hope. Hope that my daughter is on a path, going a direction, and it’s not off the deep end. If I were a religious person, I’d say, “Dear Lord, please let me enjoy this moment! Amen.” I’m thrilled to report that my formerly troubled daughter is now in a very good place: she just texted to tell me she’s getting promoted based on her hard work and…
2/6/2012 You may judge me negatively—I sure would if I were you—but here’s what I did. A few posts back I mentioned that my daughter dyed her hair an ugly fluorescent red color and I freakin’ hated it. I did keep my mouth shut, but she still knew how I felt about it. When she tried to get a promotion at work and was turned down, I couldn’t help but take that opportunity to say that the interviewer most likely judged…
2/6/2012 The empty nest thing is working out ok, I must say. The highlight is having greatly reduced stress in my everyday life. Sure, I still worry like a madwoman about my girls, but I am learning that no news is good news. If I don’t hear from them for a day or two, they’ve told me I can assume it’s because they’re simply busy going about their lives. Not having their everyday issues in my face is a mad…
1/10/2012 I’m very proud of my formerly troubled daughter. She is just like her mother and older sister in that she has a tremendous work ethic and strives to excel. Here’s some of the compliments, stats, and accolades she’s forwarded to me in the last few months. This is a good foundation for her future and tells me she really is my real child! After a collection phone call, a customer asked to speak to my daughter’s manager. This is…
12/9/2011 As this year comes to a close, and Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year’s are right at my feet, I realize that the experiences I’ve had cannot be exactly be categorized. There have been some tremendously rewarding moments—like buying my house—and some tragically frightening moments—like picking up my stoned daughter from a shitty park in the middle of the night. If I were the type to write one of those boring Christmas letters that I get from well meaning acquaintances each…
10/21/2011 I agonized a bit over how to broach the subject of the tattoo with “troubled teen.” At first I was angry and wanted to lecture and yell like the old me. Then, after a day went by (we sometimes go two or three days without crossing paths, so this was normal), I was calmer. I talked to my boyfriend who’s had his share of experiences in this regard, and he shed some light on the subject. Our discussion, if…
7/14/2011 Written by Ronit Baras (2008) Last week, I wrote about the things that parents say that turn off communication between them and their teens. Today, I would like to talk about the buttons teens push to set their parents off and “make” them lose their minds. From their early years, kids have an inherent sense of their parents’ weaknesses. They learn it by themselves – they do not need to go to school to study what works and what does…