You Just Don't Get It Mom!

You Just Don't Get It Mom!

Every once in awhile, I hear my Mom coming out of my mouth. I say something, and it is like ....Oh, hello, Mom! And then I think how is that possible? I love and respect my Mom, but I am different. I left the religion, I live in Europe and yet.... I realize I make the same mistakes and that I sound old. Goodness me, I sound old! 

Every generation claims to be different, we did, and in some we were. Our kids are the same as we were; they claim to be different.  They have computers, smartphones, the internet and things are moving faster but think about it... the basics haven't changed! History repeats itself, the circumstances are just slightly changed.

Saturday night we raised our glasses to celebrate my father-in-laws 85th birthday. That evening I couldn't help thinking about connections ... connections from one generation to the next. I love stories, I love learning, I  am fascinated by people, so I listened to their stories, and I find that things don't change as much as we think.

When we were teens, someone might have hidden a playboy in a book, under the bed and kept it a secret. Our kids hide behind their screens, thinking we don't notice. Is that so different? I say not really. We didn't listen, thought our parents were clueless and old fashioned at times, and our kids think the same of us. 

I recently watched the very discussed Thirteen Reasons Why with my daughter and felt transported back to my High School Days. How can this be possible? I graduated in 1988! I asked myself why hasn't High School changed in all of these years? It seems the biggest, and the only change is that they have cell phones now ... the rest is the same, like copy paste! 

Then I thought about reading classics. When we read a classic, we can find ourselves and our emotions in it? Because the basics don't change; the love, hate, jealousy, fear, and anger. Being a teen is hard, being a parent of a teen is also hard and for generations, teens have been saying, "You just don't get it!"

So if you have a teen and you hear you Mom coming out of your mouth... you're normal! If your teen tells you that you're clueless ... you're normal!  You're not alone, and you aren't old! This has been going on since the beginning of time, and it will continue because somehow.... the basics stay the same.

—Allison Ochs Social Worker M.S.W. , Coach, Expat, Mother of three, Wife