by Ashley Roberts

Created on: February 09, 2007   Last Updated: May 08, 2007

Parents don't really understand their children once they hit the dreaded teenage years. Being a teenager myself I see it from the flip side of the parental views. All teenagers want is freedom, and to make our own mistakes and try and learn from them. Parents already know the lessons they we teens are learning and don't want their kids to find out the hard way, but that's what we want.

We seen the parental unit as a challenge, they are the enforcer "the man", and we are the protesting hippies. We want our freedom, our American rights; they want us to be safe. Parents and teens need to find a safe middle ground where they can both stand and survive in harmony.

Cell phones are perfect, every now and again parents can call to make sure their kids are ok, and check with them where they are. Yeah of course we'll get annoyed of all the calls, but trust me it's an appreciative annoyance. We are never going to be one hundred percent happy, because teens don't want any boundaries. What parents don't understand is they can't always be happy either.

These are our golden years, the years we find out what we're made of and who we are going to be. The years that mommy and daddy need to let go and hope they did right. You can never have the perfect child, but you can never have the perfect parent. Instead of trying to look good at all the PTA meetings, try and remember how it was to be young.

Did you like all the crap your parents put you through? Did you find any of it all that necessary? I'm guessing not. No teen has or really will. So don't reincarnate the hell you went through for your kids, give them something that you would have appreciated more in your parents.

No kid wants the step ford mom and dad, they want the mom and dad to look at both sides of the story and make a decision to make both parties happy. I'm guessing it's not always easy but it's possible for parents and their teenagers to find a common ground, but it takes two to tango.

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