The other day at our local coffee shop, I overheard some teenage girls talking about their lives.\u00a0 It started off with the ever amusing complaints about their \u201clame\u201d mothers who try to rule their lives.\u00a0 Their voices carried and filled the whole back of the shop.\u00a0 There was no avoiding their often humorous diatribes.\u00a0 The girls were funny as they spoke of mothers who hover, control, and eavesdrop.\u00a0 One of them kept speaking of her mother\u2019s obsession with whether or not the bedrooms in the house are clean.\u00a0 Can you imagine such a thing?\u00a0 They whined about how the one thing their lives miss is privacy.\u00a0 Why can\u2019t their parents just see that these high school seniors are all grown up and don\u2019t need their parents in their business?<\/p>\n
My friend and I smiled at each other over our foamy lattes and shared that look that says we\u2019ve been there, and those independent women at the next table aren\u2019t really as grown up as they imagine themselves to be.<\/p>\n
Inevitably their discussion turned to boys and dating.\u00a0 My friend wiggled her eyebrows in anticipation of the \u201cjuicy stuff.\u201d\u00a0 I grinned back at her.\u00a0 They were too cute, these young girls playing at adulthood.<\/p>\n
Then suddenly they were no longer cute.<\/p>\n
They sat in the coffee shop frankly and loudly discussing their recent hook-ups.\u00a0 (Yes, that means sex if you\u2019re old enough to wonder.) They spoke bluntly about getting laid and moving on.\u00a0 Their playful banter of a few moments before became harsh, bitter and a little shrill.\u00a0 They were unspeakably sad and seemed not to know it.\u00a0 We could hear in their voices the tremble of emotion and watched the heart broken moments when faces were turned away so that they could regain their composure.<\/p>\n
I wanted to hug them all. The mother in me just wanted to wrap them up in my arms and hug them.<\/p>\n
They just seemed so confused by the adult things with which they were playing.\u00a0 They have been taught from Jr High on that sex was not a big thing.\u00a0 I know because they were the messages my generation heard the beginnings of.\u00a0 Things like we didn\u2019t have to be married, just in love and that sex was for pleasure with no mention of the emotional whirlwind which follows in its wake.\u00a0 They were clueless about the enormity of their actions.\u00a0 These poor confused girls don\u2019t know the the truth of it, because no one has ever told it to them.<\/p>\n
So I did.<\/p>\n
I set down my cup and walked over to their table.\u00a0 \u201cHi,\u201d I said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t help but overhear what you were saying.\u00a0 You were kinda loud.\u201d<\/p>\n
They all looked a bit embarrassed and apologized.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan I just ask you something?\u00a0 Can you maybe explain it to me?\u201d\u00a0 There was a chorus of \u201cYes, ma\u2019am\u201ds. This is<\/i> Texas.\u00a0 \u201cYou have a mother who loves you. Who puts a roof over your head and takes care of you.\u00a0 Right?\u201d\u00a0 Nods.\u00a0 \u201cBut you won\u2019t let her into your bedroom.\u00a0 A room she owns in a house she pays for?\u00a0 Your own mother?\u00a0 But you\u2019ll let some boy from the football team inside of your body?\u00a0 You will actually let him inside of you<\/i>?\u00a0 How does that make sense?\u201d\u00a0 I stood there for a moment and waited for an answer.\u00a0 All I got were their stunned looks.\u00a0 No one said a word.\u00a0 The color just drained from their faces.<\/p>\n
I walked back to my friend who was ready to go.\u00a0 \u201cDo you think they heard me?\u201d I asked her. \u201cDo you think they get how messed up that really is?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know, but I\u2019ll guarantee you that no one ever put it to them that way before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maybe it\u2019s time we start.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The other day at our local coffee shop, I overheard some teenage girls talking about their lives.\u00a0 It started off with the ever amusing complaints about their \u201clame\u201d mothers who try to rule their lives.\u00a0 Their voices carried and filled the whole back of the shop.\u00a0 There was no avoiding their often humorous diatribes.\u00a0 The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1979,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n