The house and her room is clean, picked up, void of noisy music and the words "just give me one moment of silence please!" echo in my memory and are bouncing off the wall......... replaced with, "Would you at the very least just answer my text messages!" and "When will you be home for the weekend?"
For some of our teens, the past few years in high school have been a piece of cake, lots of joyous fun times, laughter and very little stress. For too many others, the impact of an economy gone beserk, parents losing jobs and along with that, homes, health insurance and savings. The ability to provide for our families becomes a struggle unlike any other........ our self esteem and sense of who we are is altered as time goes by without successful replacement of a job lost. Serious lifestyle changes have to be implemented and many of them met with lots of resistance and resentment from teens unable to grasp the severity of the loss. In many homes, depression settles in but often is not recognized and since isolation is a by-product of job loss, there is no-one to perceive the subtle changes occurring and so life as it was succumbs to the anxiety of a survival mindset and instinct.
I know, my job was one of the early casualties just prior to the big "crash". My teenage daughter and I were devastated, however not broken. After the announcement that I could no longer pay the tuition for her extra-curricular theater arts program, she negotiated a barter contract for herself and the studio. I was so proud of her. Today, she is sitting on excess hours earned over and above the cost of her tuition, has been hired as an assistant teacher and is very much loved by parents and peers. She has chosen her passion for the performing arts and I am certain she will always choose Sondheim and Gershwin over any current and latest pop-singer. She was accepted into the American Musical and Dramatic arts Academy but because we are in no position to pay the tuition, she's decided to attend a state college. I am so very proud of her and miss her...........and deep down inside, I know she will be okay, will make wise decisions, be a great Jewish mother some day........ "Apples do not fall too far from their tree" so my rabbi once told me......
Jewish Moms On-Line offers the opportunity for Jewish moms all over the globe to network. It is certain that most of us have at least our love of Judaism in common. The definition of social networking has changed and we are no longer bound to the physical geographical location we currently find ourselves in. Our network includes Jewish mothers from all over the globe, with all kinds of backgrounds and the willingness to share their insights and experiences with each other. Enjoy!
