Trust your own inner guidance.
Have faith that your steps are
carrying you toward your dreams.
Keep your eyes on the heavens
and believe that your feet will carry you
well..
Jonathan Lockwood Huie


I took a night off from writing and I felt so guilty. I was so tired last night that all I wanted to do was get into bed. Things are going well. Lexi & I are completing day 25 without fighting.
I know some of you are probably wondering why we are counting the days, but we really are. We used to fight like sisters. We don't have the typical mother daughter relationship. I have always allowed Lexi to help make a lot of the decisions I was making, like looking at apartments & choosing where we were going to live. I of course had the final say, but I wanted to teach her, that her opinions counted. She helped chose our townhouse too. I have always, always wanted her to feel that her opinion was really important to me. The funny thing is, while I was allowing her to have her own opinion, if it didn't match mine, I would get frustrated & we'd fight. Like Sisters!!! But I am her mother, I after so long of having the "sister" relationship, without even realizing it, I had to reclaim the "MOM" Role. It's been hard. It's been heartbreaking, it's honestly not been as hard as I thought it would be! We are learning to walk away when we're frustrated with each other. That would not have happened a month ago, we'd have stood there & fought because we both want the last word, and when you have 2 people who are so stubborn & want the last word, well the fights would last a long time!

I'm so grateful that being in counseling has really helped us get to a better place & we are really respecting each other so much more. I no longer feel like I "NEED" to know everything. If she wants to tell me, she will when she's ready. I will say, the hardest thing is not wanting her to make some of the mistakes I have made. But I think by giving her some room to make them, she is actually making better choices. Weird right? It's called TRUST!! Oh that word is so hard for me. We've had some issues that have caused me not to trust. But I made a choice to start over, and give her a redo, and wiped the slate clean & move forward. So, she is definitely making better choices because I am giving her the opportunity to choose on her own. Wow, how easy this is? It really is... why didn't someone tell me to try it this way before?

Fighting was a constant in our household, and now quiet and laughing and speaking softly and walking away when we are annoyed, all of those things, have made for a home that I love to come home to EVERY NIGHT after work!

Don't get me wrong, we have "stuff" life is busy and gets crazy but we are rebuilding our relationship and it is a great relationship that I thank God for every day! That I am so grateful to have had the chance to fix and rebuild and polish and fine tune our relationship to make it the best Mother & daughter relationship that we can make it be! Because it's important to both of us.

Don't make your relationship with your teenager be harder than it has to be. Respect should not be expected, because if you are not teaching respect, how can they respect you? It's not a "Do as I say & not as I do" kind of world. Walk the walk & Talk the talk! Show your child respect and they will respect you so much more. They are people too and have feelings just like we adults do!

Ok, I'm going to bed now!
Hope ya'll have a great evening!

Godspeed!!