The Boot Scoot

When I was a teenager, I looked for ways to get out of doing family time, hoping my friends would "rescue" me from life at home. Everyone knows it isn't cool to spend Friday night at home, right? At least that's what I thought. But in reality, I was just too self-conscious, too worried about what people might think of me, too insecure to admit that I could have a good time with my family, too self-absorbed to see that my parents might have wanted to spend time with me.

I'm the parent now, and it should be my turn to bemoan the fact that my teens would rather be out with their friends than home with me.  But it's not working out that way. Even if they wanted to go out with friends, the nearest English-speaking teens are a 7-hr. drive away. That leaves them with a choice:  make the most of the situation, or find a new situation. Since finding a new situation isn't entirely possible, that leaves them still with two choices:  find a way to have fun, or pout and sulk.

They choose to take the situation and make the most of it. Not always, mind you, but most of the time. The question of what to do on Friday night is still a topic of conversation at our house, even though our optioins usually keep us at home. Someone gets to be in charge; someone gets to plan what the six of us are going to do for fun. Maybe it's a game or an art project. Maybe we rent a movie or watch one we already have. But they choose to have fun. They choose to make the most of what we've got, and that's been a good reminder for me. So, even though it seems that our options for weekend fun might be pretty limited, with a positive attitude--and YouTube--the possibilities are endless. Country line dancing, anyone?