Weeks before delivering our first child, my husband would read aloud in bed from Parenting magazine. We were on the verge of something completely new and it told us what we needed to know beyond our wildest imagination. This, plus a choice book or two, served as our step-by-step instruction manual.
Around the time our oldest turned two, and her brother arrived, we were in full swing, feeling confident and able, safely bolstered by a community of pediatricians, caregivers, friends and teachers. We cast aside the magazine.
Flash forward 10 years, that child is soon to be 12. Our son is 9, soon to be 10. Welcome to the tweens! We knew it was coming. We’d heard all about it. Now, for the first time since those beginning years, we are consistently looking for instruction. The parenting terrain is, once again, beyond our wildest imagination. Thus the blog “10 to 14.”
Our daughter talks to us about everything. It’s the everything that has our eyes wide open. Our son keeps his thoughts and feelings close to the vest. His lack of sharing, when we know there is a lot going on, has us on our toes. Here you’ll read about what drives the interests and passions of our tween and her friends. You’ll share in what preoccupies me, my husband, our friends, teachers and other experts, in regard to our middle school children. Through conversation, links, lists, guest bloggers and more, I mean to create a network and a resource for those of us in the mix, knowing there is safety in numbers and it takes a village.
My seatbelt is fastened. I would not trade this for the world.