Teen Drama, real "trauma" [maybe]

I'm not sure what "teen drama" should be considered...is it real, life threatening, enough to get a restraining order? Apparently, these are the tunes of today's "teen drama" life. Or how I managed to find that out with my new teen. Well she was a tween since...is it 10 or 11? But anyhow, I used to brush it under the carpet, when she would tell me stories, that would seem almost unbelievable -- then it was apparent, one day, that I needed to pay more attention and treat it as a real threat. I guess in the limited time that I have been away from school, I tend to forget how mean some children may tend to be and where does the boundary stop? Apparently, it doesn't, until a restraining order or police or even more involved? Strangely enough you would never think of police and a young teen? I guess not in the suburbs, but it could be anywhere. Some of the stories were so flagrant, that I would tell her, no would ever believe that story, are you sure it's true? She said, these are rumors fluctuating around school. We live in a little suburb -- outside of Denver, Colorado. The town consists of five square miles and most of us, pretty much stay in the little town . . . until we move or something, so if you go to the store or anywhere, be prepared to see someone you know. We have our own fire station, police department and the usuals that come with a town. I guess that's the decieving part . . . the usuals with a town is typically minor, but with the currency of time, I guess you should be prepared for anything.

Apparently, since I'm not that old, maybe naive, probably, I remember the kids as just playing random jokes on people, experimenting with makeup and playing games. Now the seriousness has entered the next frontier . . . today's life, with school shootings becoming something more common. What is wrong with today's society that we have to take out our aggression in a place that was referred to as a safe place? Nothing is considered safe, not even home. Today, I got an email from the school district of where my daughter attends. Apparently, this morning, a cafeteria worker saw (possibly) two people, dressed in camoflauge and wearing ski masks. The school was immediately put on lockdown, while the police did a thorough search of the school. As parents, we were notified, that if your child was en route to school, that you are to immediately pick up your child at a different location, where they were relocating - while the school is being searched. School is anticipated to return to it's normal schedule by tomorrow morning. This is something usually more prevelant in big cities. Now we are faced with it in smaller communties more than ever. There is no safe place anymore. While at work, I found myself reading articles about children and your teens, new technology out there to locate them, find out what they are talking about, if they are drinking, how fast is someone driving, it almost seems unreal. We must have lost all trust between both parents and kids in general.

I worry if our parenting techniques are good enough. What is good enough? In today's society, you want to prepare your child, but also protect them, or simply keep them safe. How do I know when I over stepped my boundaries as a parent or if I am not involved enough? I guess we don't really know, but learn from other's experiences, our own experiences and the search (if you choose to go on).

I guess I think about that evening of my daughter's party, where I got to talk to a couple of girls, where the enlightened me about the "cutting" and use of pot at school. This is middle school, right? I guess some things you just think can't happen to you, but then you are probably the group it affects the most. I didn't even know what "cutting" was until I watched a show on cable . . . about teenage kids who cut themselves to feel good. I just can't imagine someone feeling good about hurting themselves, watching their blood, flowing away from them. Killing themselves is more like another "drama" event. It is either taken very seriously or very lightly, some use it as attention grabbers, others truly mean it.

The kids have drama everyday, usually about something really insignificant...like someone looked at me weird, and I think she hates me, or something related along those lines. If there is a day without drama, it's a good day. The kids bring it out or proportion and seriously, who really cares? Over cautious parents? Other kids?

Today is World Lupus Day. My support group will have a release of balloons at 7 tonight. I am unsure if I will be able to make it today. I haven't been able to sleep very well because (frankly) my daughter has been sleeping with us [right inbetween me and my husband], which didn't seem unusual at first, but then became more frequent. I guess my husband and I didn't really notice, until a few days after that it affected both of us, we just were customarily used to sleeping in the same bed -- as if it is a security blanket and anything that messes with your personal security blanket, well isn't taken lightly. I had an awfully long bloody nose today. I texted my husband that I wasn't feeling all to fluffy today. I also took an extra five milligrams of Prednisone because I really felt worn.