GIVE ME STRENGTH!

Ahhhhh, life with a teenager! Never before have I felt such tranquility, such peacefulness, such love, SUCH STRONG FEELINGS TO STRANGLE MY OLDEST OFFSPRING! ;p Today happened to be one of those days.

Don't get me wrong, we love our 13-year old with all our heart and soul, she really is a great kid! But then there are times when suddenly without notice the Terrible Teenage Troll appears, takes over her body, and we don't know who or what we're talking to. Her face becomes distorted, there is great gnashing of teeth, her words begin spilling out of her mouth in a high-pitched, ear piercing tone with vocabulary that makes her feel older than she is but yet makes her sound younger than her youngest sibling (who happens to be 4.) And in a blink-of-an-eye, the fearsome troll disappears and our sweet, innocent, playful daughter reemerges and life is good again for another brief second in time. Nothing is ever her fault, and things always seem to go to hell-in-a-handbasket whenever she is overtaken by the gruesome troll - let me tell you, it's AWESOME!

I'm thinking my monthly hair budget will soon be increasing since I will be getting frequent hair colorings to cover up the gray hair I will be growing over the next few years! What am I saying, few years? Try the next 15 years since that is when our youngest will reach the last of the teenage years. OH, HEAVEN HELP ME!