{Trust Me}

Isn't that what every teenager screams from the top of their lungs every single day? They want to be trusted and respected. They want to be treated as the adult they believe they are. And as a parent you eventually have to do that. You have to let them go into the world and trust that you've taught them right from wrong and how to be a decent human being. You have to trust that they won't do anything stupid and that they're smart enough to get out of a situation they shouldn't be in in the first place. They scream "trust me!" and "I'm not a kid anymore!". And you learn to not treat them as such and to trust them.

But when that trust is broken its a whole different ball game. They scream a little louder but suddenly you can't trust them anymore. Because they've lost your trust. They've lied to you one too many times and snuck around behind your back too much for you to let your guard down again. And so you start screaming back "earn my trust!!"

And then you play the waiting game. They want to know how long it'll take before you trust them again and you can't give them an answer because you yourself have no idea. There's no time frame for earning back trust. Keeping it is easy..earning it back near impossible.

I can tell you this though (should a certain teenager be creeping on my blog)  the amount of time is not a week. Its not 2wks, hell it might not even be a month. Because after all the BS you pulled we don't trust you at all. And why should we?? After being lied to and snuck around behind and you yourself telling us that you would find ways around being grounded (one of which is staying with friends/family and then doing as you pleased from there). You really think that we are going to trust you or them enough to let you do to us the way you did your mom?? Um..no. I wasnt born yesterday kid.

So here is how to earn our trust back. Don't lie. Don't sneak. Don't tell us one thing and do another. Don't try to be shady because we always find out. Always. Keep doing as your doing now. And remember that eventually you'll be glad you learned this lesson. Because even though you and your little friends don't think you needed to, you did.

Good luck other parents of teenagers. You're going to need it.