Teenagers
By
Rory Ryan-hcpress@cinci.rr.com
Have any of our cherished HCP parental readers had three teenagers in their respective homes at the same time?
Not that anyone really cares, but I have been there. I've done that. I've climbed the mountain.
Some people plan for life's unexpected events. Some people don't. (Almond Joys have nuts, Mounds don't.)
All that aside, in 2007 and 2008, Pam and I were the proud and happy parents of three teenagers. Neither one of us recommends it to those of you attending family planning meetings.
Two of the three have graduated from those teenage years. They've also graduated from North Adams High School, Southern State Community College and Wilmington College, and not necessarily in that order.
Thanks to people like former Ohio Senator Cooper Snyder, our children – and many other students – were able to take advantage of the Ohio Post-Secondary Enrollment Option Program (PSEO) and earn a college degree prior to graduating from high school.
And then there's the last of our three teenagers. I'll not embarrass him, or his sisters, by mentioning them by name. But the tall boy who lives in a room down the hall does have a tendency to try one's patience. Especially mine.
He and I spend a lot of time together from Thursday evening through Saturday morning. We deliver newspapers in the Fairfax and Sugar Tree Ridge communities. Prior to the delivery of those newspapers, we have a "system" in place for the insertions and bagging of each paper.
Considering that the old man (this guy) has been in the printing industry for more than 30 consecutive years, to me, the weekly ritual is no big deal.
But considering the youngest of our offspring is a relative rookie, maybe the parents among our HCP readers can understand and appreciate today's media conundrum.
I'll admit that I was I bit tired this afternoon. I'll even admit that I had one or two beers, while admiring the evening sunset in the first week of January. But I will not admit to witnessing what transpired around 6 o'clock this Friday evening, when my wife made an off-the-cuff comment about a delivery van being stuck in the mud in our backyard.
Did I mention that we only have one teenager left to raise?
Yup. He was the driver in question.
For a few minutes, we watched our van, under this teenager's control, circle through the back yard.
Just for the record, this is January. It's not the season for driving through back yards, front yards or side yards.
The van got stuck. (Surprise.)
The teenager's parents unstuck said van.
The teenager's mother told the teenager's father to be more understanding. The teenager's father was still in a daze, wondering why a Dodge Caravan was stuck in his backyard.
We did learn a few of those life lessons from the entire ordeal. We learned:
• Do not push against a front tire on a front-wheel drive vehicle.
• Cussing never helps.
• Cat litter and loose gravel improve traction.
• Life (always) goes on.
I'll admit that my momentary anger and temporary hostility quickly gave way to those memories of my own childhood screw-ups. And in 1980, my own parents had three teenagers. I was one of them.
Rory Ryan is publisher and editor of The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
Not that anyone really cares, but I have been there. I've done that. I've climbed the mountain.
Some people plan for life's unexpected events. Some people don't. (Almond Joys have nuts, Mounds don't.)
All that aside, in 2007 and 2008, Pam and I were the proud and happy parents of three teenagers. Neither one of us recommends it to those of you attending family planning meetings.
Two of the three have graduated from those teenage years. They've also graduated from North Adams High School, Southern State Community College and Wilmington College, and not necessarily in that order.
Thanks to people like former Ohio Senator Cooper Snyder, our children – and many other students – were able to take advantage of the Ohio Post-Secondary Enrollment Option Program (PSEO) and earn a college degree prior to graduating from high school.
And then there's the last of our three teenagers. I'll not embarrass him, or his sisters, by mentioning them by name. But the tall boy who lives in a room down the hall does have a tendency to try one's patience. Especially mine.
He and I spend a lot of time together from Thursday evening through Saturday morning. We deliver newspapers in the Fairfax and Sugar Tree Ridge communities. Prior to the delivery of those newspapers, we have a "system" in place for the insertions and bagging of each paper.
Considering that the old man (this guy) has been in the printing industry for more than 30 consecutive years, to me, the weekly ritual is no big deal.
But considering the youngest of our offspring is a relative rookie, maybe the parents among our HCP readers can understand and appreciate today's media conundrum.
I'll admit that I was I bit tired this afternoon. I'll even admit that I had one or two beers, while admiring the evening sunset in the first week of January. But I will not admit to witnessing what transpired around 6 o'clock this Friday evening, when my wife made an off-the-cuff comment about a delivery van being stuck in the mud in our backyard.
Did I mention that we only have one teenager left to raise?
Yup. He was the driver in question.
For a few minutes, we watched our van, under this teenager's control, circle through the back yard.
Just for the record, this is January. It's not the season for driving through back yards, front yards or side yards.
The van got stuck. (Surprise.)
The teenager's parents unstuck said van.
The teenager's mother told the teenager's father to be more understanding. The teenager's father was still in a daze, wondering why a Dodge Caravan was stuck in his backyard.
We did learn a few of those life lessons from the entire ordeal. We learned:
• Do not push against a front tire on a front-wheel drive vehicle.
• Cussing never helps.
• Cat litter and loose gravel improve traction.
• Life (always) goes on.
I'll admit that my momentary anger and temporary hostility quickly gave way to those memories of my own childhood screw-ups. And in 1980, my own parents had three teenagers. I was one of them.
Rory Ryan is publisher and editor of The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]