Raising teenage girls is oh so much fun. Kelsey and I are kind of like oil and water. We went on a 5 hour road trip a couple of weekends ago for her soccer team. I used that time to try and calmly explain a few issues since I had her strapped in the car and she was unable to roll her eyes and walk away. Ok so she COULD roll her eyes but she could not walk away.

Kelsey has a bad habit of involving herself in as many activities as she can. Don't get me wrong I am glad that she is a kid that likes to be involved but she still needs to be a functioning member of the family. By this I mean; It is not acceptable to use the front room of the house as a dumping ground for all of her stuff. She packs bags for Cross Country, bags for soccer practice, bags for sleep overs, bags for snacks and bags for the sake of bags. She is kind of like a bag lady.

Problem being, she loses her bags week after week. I bought her new expensive Cross Country shoes and she lost them three days later. They were eventually found in a "Bag" in someones trunk. She lost her bag with her deodorant and just grabbed mine off my dresser, stuck it in a bag and lost that too. When she packs her lunch, she is in such a hurry that she drops half the pretzels on the floor and leaves the lid off the huge 5lb jar of pretzels that I buy at Costco. The dog loves it when Kelsey packs her lunch!!

Her asthma has been bad all week, she can't find her inhaler. (I think it may be in a bag somewhere)

Yesterday morning I was trying to get ready for work, Kelsey was in a hurry and had packed her lunch real quick and was waiting for Shannon so she could leave for school. I walked in the pantry and stepped on three pretzels. I noticed the lid was laying on the floor next to the huge jar of pretzels. It looks as if our five hour chat on the way to Rockford IL fell on deaf ears. I asked her, OK yelled at her to get her butt off the couch and pick up the pretzel crumbs and put the lid back on the pretzels.

Dave cornered me and gave me a few suggestions on a better way to deal with teenagers. He said, "You shouldn't yell at her." No one wants to start their day with their mom mad at them." Oh I see, I should have said, "Good morning Kelsey, how was your slumber?? I just stepped on some pretzels, I will think of you fondly all day when I feel the tiny little crumbs between my toes, and when I smell myself while sitting at my desk because I had to use Old Spice again because you keep taking my deodorant." "You may consider joining a few more clubs at school, I would love to rearrange my day to pick you up when you have after school activities and please, please make sure you order at least one T-shirt for each activity and club that you belong to. After all we do have a golden check book."

Kelsey is my 5th teenage daughter, I am still practicing. I figure by the time Maggie is a teenager I may just hide in my room in the fetal position and let Dave handle things. After all he is an expert!!!