teenagers

Tyson Buck came over for dinner on Saturday night.  Tyson is one of my older brother's best friends.  I haven't seen him in 8 years or so, but we picked up just where we left off.  He lives in Oregon with his cute wife and three kids and just so happened to be in town for an Ortho convention (love living in Vegas for this reason, it seems like everyone eventually ends up here for work.)  He came over at 6pm.  We had steak and potatoes for dinner.  He brought dessert.  The kids visited for a bit, but went upstairs to play while Aaron, Ty and I stayed up until 11pm talking and laughing and reminiscing about the good old days.

After he left, our kids were still awake and they came downstairs and we talked about what we want for them as teenagers.  I would LOVE to give them opportunities to hang out with young men and women their age and have the freedom to be kids.  It doesn't seem like that's something we can give them here in Vegas.  It doesn't seem like parents trust teenagers anymore.  What's happening to the world these days?

Some of the best memories I made growing up was having sleepovers with our friends.  I know that so many parents are cautious about this nowadays and I understand why they are, but it still bothers me.  Why can't good kids stay up late and laugh and hang out on the weekends?  I had such a GREAT group of teenagers in my neighborhood.  This sounds crazy to me now, but we went on camping trips on the weekends without any adult supervision.  I know that sounds dangerous, a bunch of 16-18 boys and girls sleeping in the mountains without anyone making sure we weren't getting into trouble.  But guess what?  We weren't getting into trouble!  We were making fires and telling ghost stories.  The girls slept in one place and the boys slept in another.  In the morning, we woke up and made breakfast together.  How fun (and safe) is that?  It really was the best of times.

Do I want my boys to have sleepovers with girls?  Of course not, but I do want them to have good friends that are girls.  It would be great if they took them on dates every once in a while, too.  I want them to feel comfortable to be themselves-- to be play silly games and eat junk food and laugh about the latest dumb movie.  Do I trust my boys to be around other teenagers and not get in trouble?  Totally.  100%.  Do I trust other teenagers?  Yes, not all of them, but I know there are good ones out there.

Last night, Aaron and I played cards with Ben and Luke until midnight.  We laughed and talked about what we want for them as teenagers and asked them where they want to live.  They both want to go to Utah.  It's so cold there, but I think it might be the best place to raise teenagers.