Turkey Day

Since most bloggers are posting about Thanksgiving...I'll follow the crowd and do the same. That's what teenagers do, right?

This Thanksgiving was wonderful. Really. Usually there's a lot of yelling and screaming from the revival of long-debated family arguments, lots of traveling, packing and unpacking, cooking, broken dishes, the dropping of the stuffing on the tile floor, cranberry jello mold recipe issues, heated discussions about the tablecloth's flocking (still have no clue what they're talking about), and plenty more.

But this year...everything was the same. The only difference was it was all at our house. Yep. 10 family members ranging from teens to people pushing 90 all crammed around the same table. Yikes. I won't lie, making up the seating chart was a challenge. "He smells bad." "No, they'll get in a fight." "I hope they don't start talking politics." "Can we a play a game after dinner?" "She can't hear a thing, so let's not put them together." "I'm sitting here. Done."

But even with all that, it was still nice to have the family together. Especially after watching a show last night about homeless children and the stuggle that they overcome: living in trucks, not having enough food, dealing with issues like those and still doing school work and community service. They love their families despite their close living quarters, and they admire their parents through it all. It makes me appreciate the quirks that my relatives have and to love them in spite of their flaws.

So even though you may think that we teens just sit at the Thanksgiving table for the food and stay there with our arms crossed and our mouths shut, chances are we are giving our family a good look. And hopefully, we're realizing that you're not so bad after all.

Lingo

"Hey bro what's up"

"Hey man, wanna chill after school?"

"Nah I can't...or I'm gonna bomb that Geo. test tomorrow."

So, how much of that conversation did you understand?

Now how much did you really get?

Well, it's okay. We, as teens, have some weird lingo, but I'm here to help you get it straight (cue heroic music from The Incredibles).

Here are some commonly used words and phrases by teens:
]
I know, right---meaning I agree
dude---friendly way to address someone
I just bombed that----when referring to a test or a task, failed
hott---good looking
texting---writing messsages over the phone
facebooking----communicate via facebook
friend (on fb)---to accept a friend request on facebook
flexin'----showing off
stud/stud muffin----cool person ("What a stud!")
stalking---not like criminal stalking, just paying attention to or texting a lot ("He's so stalking me.")
I'm good---I'm fine, no thanks
bromance---guys in a close friendship
lax bro---guy who plays lacrosse
duh----of course in a sarcastic how-did-you-not-know-that kind of way
ripped----really muscular
stoked---really excited
swagga---a walk or a strut or the way someone carries themselves, style
twitter---site in which you type statuses saying what you're doing or thinking
tweet---a status update or the act of updating your status

Of course, there will always be different words "trending" at each moment, but at least these are some for now. For example, not too long ago, everyone said "uber." "That's uber cool" or you're "uber awesome" or whatever, but now you never hear that anymore. Right now you hear words like the ones above, but in another couple of months, there will probably be a new set words. Sorry, that's just the way it works! Luckily, you can always google them or check on urbandictionary.com, which I'll warn you can be a little racy with a lot of curse words,  but it'll get you what you need.

I didn't even start talking about texting language; that's a whole 'nother story.

"You're Fat"

Here's a tip: when talking to your teenage daughter, don't mention weight. Ever.

As teens, we are very sensitive and very concerned with our appearance. And if you say something like, "That doesn't fit you anymore." We don't take it well.

Basically, in our minds, that translates to "You're fat."


Now, I get it, that's totally not what you are saying. You're making a harmless comment that has more to do with your concern about boys chasing us because of a tight top than with our needing to lose weight.

Unfortunately, you've got to be even more sensitive. We're talking baby-sensitive. Because it's all in the way that we perceive your comments, not necessarily what you actually say.

Right about now, you're thinking, "Well, what? Am I just not supposed to say anything ever because my teen always misunderstands me? That's ridiculous!"

Well, No! Just stay off the topic of weight. It's a sore subject, and it's hard for most of us to hear about. We're already so self-conscious about our bodies. All the time, I hear things like, "I'm fat" or "I need to work out now, that was 200 calories," or "I have to lose like 10 lbs."


Our body images can get seriously low when we're bombarded with too-thin models and barbie doll figures on TV all the time.

The best thing you can do for us is tell us we're beautiful, no matter what shape or size, exactly the way we are. Every girl and woman wants to feel pretty. Help us to feel that way. We need your compliments sometimes, not just our friends'.