I, a Teenager's Parent

2005

Hurricane Katrina ran through New Orleans dumping tonnes of hail & rain, sweeping the whole town away. Since then the town has slowly rebuilt itself, some say for the better, some say for worse but all agree, it just ain’t the same as it used to be.

2010

Teenager Aakanksha ran through the little Jadhav family dumping on it tonnes of ‘teenage’ hurricane stuff and sweeping it of its feet. Though all shook and chastened, the little Jadhav family is sure its better off for it, though certainly a bit grayer on the head…..  :-)

Last year AJ was a fledgling little chick trying to find her way about; this year she is all grown up & strutting her stuff, prancing about, at times confident, at times hesitant, wanting to boldly claim her place among the ‘Grown Ups’. She has a head full of thoughts & doubts and freely airs them, firing questions like so many bullets out of an AK-47…

Does God exist?

Why don’t I feel any purer when I enter a temple???

Why are dad & mom so old fashioned?

Why can’t I have a BB?

Why can’t people just leave me alone??

Why this??? Why that???...... Why?  Why?  Why??

It does get a bit much sometimes when there seem to be way too many questions and not enough effort to find their answers but on the whole we like her questioning mind and her need to seek try and seek the answers. We are sure she will find them all sooner than later.

Like with other fresh teenagers, AJ spent the whole year enthusiastically testing everything. Be it our patience, our resolve or even our love & affection for her. Be it rules, laws or conventions. Be it limits, boundaries or the thin line between the acceptable and the unacceptable. To be sure she overstepped many a times and was promptly ‘Grounded’. She even grossly overstepped a few times and burned her fingers badly, so to say. But like she summed it up herself;

1. Its been a tough year but we made it through
2. Hey, whats the big deal? We all knew this was coming. Right?
3. The worst is over
4. I have developed as a person.

We couldn’t agree more. Ditto, Ditto, Ditto. And while we are excited and fascinated with the person she is developing into, we do miss the one she is trying to leave behind.

-         the one who couldn’t wait to cuddle up and sleep with mom when dad was traveling,

-         the one who couldn’t stop chatting, her little stories never running out,

-         the one who loved to share everything and didn’t like keeping secrets

Well, so much for nostalgia. And as they say, nostalgia is a bit like chocolate. Great in small portions but a sure shot tummy tumbler is one goes on and on about it.

So for the time being nostalgia can go take a nap. We are keen to see what 2011 brings.