Archive for the ‘Announcements’ Category

Oh. Hai There.

I’m Nutter Butter. The Hamster. I own the Pup.

Apparently the owner of this blog has pulled her typical first of the year hermit thing, and has not updated in a while. I’m here to tell you there WILL be a post today – even if I have to write it myself!

…heeeeeeeeeey… wait a minute…

Stay Tuned!

Dude, I ALWAYS wanted to do this. Alas, I’m several years too old to be Stuck at Prom! However, this years contest is gearing up, and starts March 1st! What contest, you say?

The one where you and you’re prom date make your prom outfits entirely from Duck Tape! INORITE?! Here in Alaska the joke is we can fix anything with duct tape and bailing wire, though shockingly the entries from Alaska for Stuck At Prom are few and far between!

Check out the gallery! There are some AMAZING outfits (that’s last year’s winner on the left here)! And it’s not all just for fun and giggles, oh no – they’re giving away 20 Scholarships to celebrate their 10th Anniversary!

It’s really very simple! Here are the rules, and then it’s just four steps, really. Create an outfit, Make the top 10, Earn Votes/Survive each Week/Win Scholarships! This year the first place winners receive a $3000 scholarship, second place will receive $2000, and third $1000. Runner’s up get $500.

If nothing else, if you enter, you KNOW that you’ll have the most unique prom outfit at your school – so there’s nothing to lose! So, what’re you waiting for? break out the Duck Tape and design away!

Wonder if THIS would convince my boy to go to prom this year…

We received notice this morning that 451Press IS officially shut down, and they won’t be giving us the option for our domain names, either. I guess it’s a darn good thing I’d already spent yesterday setting up this one for us, hm?

It’s going to take some time getting things up and running, but I’ve a wealth of stories about my teenagers to continue to share with you – from birthdays to back to school, to general fun stuff, and all manor of things Teenager. I do hope that those who had PSA’s to share with us will find us still and also that you all will continue to participate via comment and email.

After all – raising teenagers is FUN, right?

Right? Hello?

My last post at PTB.com:

While I have access – which I expect not to have much longer as the network goes into upheavals and keeps blocking us out – I wanted to mention that it’s been one year since I took over PTB.

Since I’ll miss it far too much if I get booted for good? While we’re awaiting word…

http://parentingteensblog.net.

That’s us! – A work in progress. Don’t worry – I’ll be fixing the template today!

B and C might not be so pleased to have made the blog this time – but it’s really too funny not to share! Again, neither B nor C are actually kids I’ve given birth too, but are ‘mine’ none-the-less. They’re both 18, and currently couch surfing at my place most of the time. Yay me! Good thing they’re relatively good girls, they’ve just gone through some bad stuff the past years, and are trying to pull out of it all. I’m happy to help in anyway I can – even if it’s just lending them a couch and a safe haven.

I’ve always been one to foster open and honest conversations about sex and all related sexual type activities, which has resulted in them not really asking me questions, but kinda hinting around sometimes, and then finally opening the talk. I feel special, because they DO talk to me about it, and well, statistics say that only about 19% of kids have someone they can trust to speak about sexual topics with – of course, I think of those 19%, about 11% of them frequent my house.

Lucky Me.

Anyway, as I was saying, there are open and honest conversations around here. We’ve tackled the hypothetical questions:

B: So. mom. HYPOTHETICALLY SPEAKING. If one were to go off her birth control, could they HYPOTHETICALLY SPEAKING maybe get pregnant so soon? And if so, MY FRIEND would like to know if HYPOTHETICALLY SPEAKING, eating everything in sight might be a symptom and OMG pass the chips, please!
Me: HYPOTHETICALLY SPEAKING it won’t matter after I kill you. Dead. Like with a rock or something.

I know, I’m all about being sensitive and stuff.

During this HYPOTHETICAL conversation, I pointed out that I keep condoms in the kitchen window basket, just to avoid needing these types of conversations.

B: OMG mom. I’d be so embarrassed to go into the kitchen and be all just grabbin a condom mom – it’d be mortifying!
Me: and these hypothetical conversations arent?
B: True..
Me: Child, you are in my kitchen 18 times a day getting something to eat. I can’t see you from where I sit at the desk. How could I possibly tell the difference between cup o’noodle packaging, and the condom box opening?
B: …you have a point.
Me: Remember that point. AND WRAP IT.
B: Yes ma’am.

See? Sensitivity is my middle name. Or is it sacrasm? Smartass? Something like that. Anyway, along with such hypothetical questions, there are the ever amusing overheard conversations that go like this:

B: I need to get my HPV Vac shot soon.
C: I have to go to the public health too – get tested again.
B: Yeah, we can go together.
C: You can hold my hand when they take my blood because OMG needles freak me out and I FLIPPED last time.
— Please note, this is the one who let the other one pierce her belly button with a sewing needle. Just sayin’.

B: What? You just have to pee in a cup for that one! Chlamydia and Gonorrhea are pee tests, it’s the others you have to give blood.
— Yes, I know, I think she’s incorrect on the Chlamydia test, but let’s go with it for now..

C: Alright! Pee tests I can do!
B: I mean, want me to hold your hand while you Pee? I can do that if ya want me too.
C: Oh. Yeah. That’d be helpful. Not.
— sarcasm is a fine art with these two. *L*

Me: HAHAHAHAHAHAH! That convo is SO making the blog!
B and C: MOOOOOOOM!

And you’d think it would end there. But no. There’s still the matter of the HYPOTHETICALLY NEEDED EPT. Which I went to purchase today. Now, I went this afternoon, because the girls, B and C were both home, and all the boys were not. Naturally, by the time I GOT home, another girl was here, and so was my son. Whoops. So I try to keep it on the downlow. I search for the right bag – and CAN’T FIND THE TEST. I search again.

The Pup: Whatcha lookin for?
Me: Feminine type items. Don’t ask. You’re too young to be a Feminine.
The Pup: Ok!

Still can’t find them. I call the store to see if they are still at the check stand, no go. The girls are like frantic. I’m chuckling. We look again.

The Pup: HEY! Is THESE it? (She holds up the EPT and box of condoms proudly.)
Me: Yup! Thanks kiddo. I’ll take it back to the girls.
The Pup: I know what one of them IS mom!
Me: What? (I didn’t hear her. I didn’t mean for her to TELL me..)
The Pup – as loud as she always is – crowed delightedly: A PREGNANCY TEST!

You could have heard a PIN DROP. Then the laughter hit. Oh. My. Gawd. We all busted up laughing, as I went back and tossed the EPT to a MORTIFIED girl, followed by the box of condoms for her personal stash. I am positive that she’ll think twice about NOT using the condoms next time, if only to avoid the embarrassment of the 9 year old calling her out on her deeds… For the record, the test was negative. But as they left to go off to a friends house, I got a very bemused and chagrined and laughter filled..

B: Way to keep things on the downlow, mom. Keep working on that, huh?

Then they swiped a box of frozen pizza, some chips, a soda, and left for the evening.

Admit it. You TOTALLY wish you lived at MY house, now, don’t you?

Thanks to everyone who helped spread the word about the giveaway. Those that entered certainly ended up with very good odds, hm? I’d hoped for a bigger turnout, but that’s alright, I know the ones that win will put the books to good use, for sure!

Since there were only 10 entries, I decided to forgo the Random.org, and do things the old fashioned way, with the following three ingredients:

1. a hat – grandpa’s old cowboy hat that the boy loved when he was little
2. names on folded pieces of paper – Homer Bookstore Post It Notes, with little otters
3. and a helper both cute and willing to pick the names out of the hat.

Remember, the first prize gets to choose which of the four books they want, 2nd prize gets to choose from the remaining 3, 3rd prize picks from the remaining 2, and 4th prize gets the remaining book. And here we go – drumroll please…. Without further ado, here are our winners!

1st place goes to Carla Pullum!

2nd place goes to Jewel Girl!

3rd place goes to Pamela!

and 4th place goes to Amanda Sue!

Congrats to all the winners – I’ll shoot you guys an email, in order, so that you can choose your book and give me your addresses so that I can send them to you. Thanks for participating, and enjoy your new reading material!

And special thanks to my cute helper, who – while not a teenager yet – has enough attitude and sass to make me absolutely terrified of the upcoming years. Somebody save me…

As the mom to two (TWO! How did that happen?) teenagers and one rapidly entering that ‘tween’ stage (groan), I’m right smack dab in the middle of “OMG Life is so HARD” land. And it is hard – being a teenager, that is. You want all the independence you think you deserve, yet you still want the safety net of knowing Mom and Dad can and will rescue you if you mess up. It’s a constant struggle between doing what you want, vs. what you need to do/we want you to do.

It’s the epitome of “Life sucks.”

I’m not a big fan of self-help books, of meetings and groups, or people telling me how to do things that I know I should be doing but don’t want to do. I know, it makes me sound like a teenager, doesn’t it, in all my petulant glory, and why is she writing this blog then anyway, right? But it doesn’t mean that I don’t like to help when I can, or just talk and present anther view, or even listen when someone needs a shoulder to lean on.

That’s why I like the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series. Their real stories, of hard times and happy endings. I’m a happy ending type of girl, after all. There’s always something in there that reaches out and grabs you, and reminds you that you’re not alone. They are easy reading, they don’t slam solutions at you, they’re written by real people talking about things that happened to them, and let you come up with your own solutions in your own time.

All this to say that when Phenix & Phenix approached me and asked if I’d like to host a giveaway for the Teen Talk Series of Chicken Soup for the Soul® – I jumped at the chance! That’s how I ended up with four books in my hot little hands: Teens Talk Relationships, Teens Talk Tough Times, Teens Talk Growing Up, and Preteens Talk. And while they are in my hands right now? I want to deliver them to YOU, instead of keeping them all for myself. (mine mine mine! …wait. ok. yours.)

So, in the interest of easy contests, here’s what we’re gonna do. Every comment that you leave on this entry, will enter you into a random drawing for one of the four books. You don’t have to say anything profound in your comment (ME ME PICK ME! works..), or flatter me endlessly (though you know what they say about that…) but if you’d like to leave a little tidbit about your life with a teenager, or being a teen, or ask me questions about me and mine, please do!

I’ll leave the comments open for a week – starting today, September 18 through next Thursday, September 25th, at midnight Alaskan time. (That’s PST -1). The following Friday, September 26th, I’ll use good old Random.org to choose the winners. First drawn gets their choice of the four, second the choice of three, third the choice of two, and fourth gets the last book. I’ll then ask the winners for their choices, their addresses, and send the books.

After the cut, you can read more about the individual books, to help you make your decision on which you might want to choose if you win. So comment away! Tell your friends, spread the word, and join in! It’s a Parenting Teens Comment Party!

Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome back to Parenting Teens Blog – I’m you’re new hostess with the mostest, Lessa. I thought I’d start my tenure with PTB by introducing myself to you all, and explaining a little of what you might find here. Sure, most folks would suggest I not scare you off right away, but I decided to take my chances anyway.

There’s a little about the author link over there on the right with my name on it, but the basics are that I am 38 years old, a widow, mother of three – two of whom are teenagers 16 and 14, plus the 9 year old. I am a stay at home mom, with several ‘other other other’ jobs that I use to help keep us afloat, while allowing me to spend as much time with my kids as I can stand – you know, at least 5 -10 minutes a day.

I suppose I should give you fair warning after that sentence, hm? I am not your ‘normal’ mom. That’s not to say that physically I’m any different than any other round, loud, busybody female who’s carried three babies to term and raise them for years afterwards while managing not to irrevocably harm them in the process – but in oh so many ways, I’m not what you’d expect when you think of “Mom”. The ways in which I am different from the oh so revered “Soccer Mom”? Here’s two ways, just to get you started.

1. My hair is usually blue. Or green. Or purple. Or red. Or bleached in a fiery pattern. Or anything, basically, then my normal and vaguely recollected dishwater blond.

It started back when my kids started making rumblings about coloring their hair. Rule in my house – no wild color until the kid is 12. That way they understand they’ll be pointed at, and are prepared. (The exception was for sports events, natch. I’m not completely heartless – unless you ask the kids. heh.) I discovered a love for the “Rogue Stripes” ala X-men, and then the kids took turns picking the color for those stripes. I don’t remember a time when my hair was it’s natural, god-given color, but I think it was sometime in my 20s. Did I mention I didn’t start the hair color until I turned 30? Yeah. Midlife crisis anyone?

(ETA – Full disclosure demands that I further blame the hair color – the FIRST round of blue – on my best friend in CA. He broke me oh so gently into the wild color schemes with a light blue wash that made people look twice during my first visit to CA. I decided I liked it. The rest – as they say – is history!)

2. I don’t give a flying f**k for the status quo.

Blunt? Yeah, probably, but it’s who I am. I don’t care how you raise your kids, as long as you don’t decide you have to dictate to me how to raise mine. I care that we work together to raise honest, hardworking, empathetic, talented, respectful kids, and I know that there are 18million different ways to achieve that goal. We can’t teach our kids respect, unless we show each other respect. As long as there is no harm to the child, no harm to the parents, and the end result is the same, why on earth should we quibble about the details? Opinions are like…. you know the rest.

The rest will likely come as we get to know one another and I take up posting regularly here at PTB. I might scare you, I might cause your blood pressure to rise, I might cause you to think. I am hoping that you will join in, comment, and cause all the same things to happen to me in return. All I ask is that we remain respectful of one another, and our kids, as we work together to raise the next generation the best way we know how.

Without ending up curled up in a corner in the fetal position, whimpering. Heh.