sowingseeds

MUTATION — A sudden change in the genetic make-up of a plant, leading to a new feature. This new feature can be inherited.

It can seem as if our teens are going through a genetic mutation often causing new features, inherited or not. It seems to hit around age 12 when they begin to clean out their room of all their “little kid stuff”. They are growing and changing, but suddenly it can seem as if they have mutated into some other child or perhaps alien life form of which we were not aware just yesterday.

I am told regularly that this is a stage that children (young adults) go through and it is normal and is truly not a mutation, though it is a growing process that will result in new features in our adolescent’s life. Many of these features are beautiful to see and will aid the mature adult’s life style.

KNOCKING OUT — The temporary removal of a plant from its pot in order to check the condition of the root ball.

Although I have a teenager, I am NOT refering to an actual KO to curb unwanted behavior. The gardening term “knocking out” means to remove the plant from its pot to check the condition of the roots. As we are raising kids, this could apply to times when we simply sit down with them, alone or as a family-and away from the stimulus of the media and peers, to check the condition of their roots. Talk about what is going on in their life, about their friends, school, music, church, activities, current events. See what they are feeling and thinking about these things. Lead the discussion into ways of healthy growth and thought stimulation, laced with family values. You may be surprised to find that you can get a good feel for your child’s root system by these simple quiet times, removed from their element of peers and media input. You will gain vaulable insight into what direction they are moving and any nudging that may need to be done to help them re-establish their root system a little more securely.