CONTRIBUTED BY KIMBERLY MITCHELL
I got a little glimpse into the future this weekend. We hosted a dinner party with an extra 4-year old, 5-year old, and 7-year old. That’s in addition to my nearly 3-year old and the two babies I neglected to mention. At times, chaos was not quite strong enough of a word to describe the scene. But it was definitely interesting to me to be able to see a side-by-side comparison of the girls (all 6 kids were girls!) in different stages of development. On one hand, the incessant “why why why” stage hasn’t hit here in full-force and I for that I am glad. Man, it gets tiring! My first “Because I said so!” escaped my mouth and I looked around in surprise expecting to see my mother around the corner. On the other hand, the more self-sufficient older kids were a refreshing change of pace.
My point, if I have one, is that there are always rewards and challenges at any age. One big challenge I imagine, is moving to Okinawa with a pre-teen. A tween, if you will. I remember moving across the country before the start of my sixth grade year and I was none to happy about it. What could my parents have done differently? If anyone has any ideas on how to make it a smoother transition for an older child, please share! A faithful reader, Ed, has an 11-year old grand-daughter coming to the island in July and he’s trying to do his part. Help him out won’t you?
(There aren’t any teenage lurkers out there who would want to share their viewpoints are there?)