TEEN'S CORNER

Welcome Teens!

Teen’s Corner is specifically designed for you to express your thoughts, concerns, and issues. Let me tell you for better or worse there is always a tomorrow but the question is will you be in it? In your corner we want you to tell us how it REALLY IS about anything you want to talk about. We’re starting the list, so you add on and then we’ll work together to make good things happen in our lives.

• Depression
• Mental Health
• Trusting Relationships
• Sex
• STDs/HIV
• Teen Pregnancy
• Weight Loss
• Nutrition

Teens share the following article with your parents!

By Rhonda Cannon-Jones, Author

For most of my life, I’ve been busy. If I wasn’t, I probably would be dead. There is no negativity in being busy, we have to work. However, our working should not be to the extent that our busyness makes us extinct to others especially our children. For the most part, my family and friends know my busy schedule. Do they really understand when I change plans, don’t call or visit when I say? Yes, they get ticked off! They understand my life but not those things which consume it everyday of their lives.

Today, I’m raising my daughter and foster children who simply do not understand Momma saying, “I’m busy”. In taking care of innocent lives, I had to reevaluate and make them priority. I eliminated, “I’m busy” from my Things Momma Can’t Do Right Now Lifestyle Dictionary. It’s not good to be busy all the time. You lose sight of not what but who is important. Children don’t understand our “busyness”. Simply put, it is our business to make sure our children have our time. Isn’t that ironic how the words busy and business co-exist? Of course you want your business to be busy in order to become a successful entrepreneur but at what cost?

I mean think about when you were a kid. What did you want from your Dad, Mom, Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents? When we were children, we wanted their attention, love, and affection – not rejection. At times we even wanted our own siblings, even if we hated them, to pay attention to us and be there for us. If we didn’t get the attention, what did we do? Act out! Say hurtful things! Run Away! Even if you didn’t do any of these things, you know what I mean. Saying your busy to a child, tells them, “I don’t have time for you”, “You’re not important enough”, or “You’re simply not on my list of priorities”. I don’t care what you say, if you say telling a child you’re busy is just the way it goes, you’re using a poor excuse. So No! Children don’t understand our bizziness.

We are responsible to take out time with our children. We should never be too busy to water one of God’s flowers, so pure and innocent. We should be in their lives like the waterfalls of rain God sends down and pours out on the earth. God waters us. We are responsible for planting seeds and taking root in our children’s lives or any child’s life. Children’s lives are filled with uncertainty. But trusting in our love, they can soar high.

So yes, when I think of our busyness, I think of bumble bees. They may be busy buzzing around, but they surely take out the time STING. And when they do, they take root and hold on to you; maybe not everyday but once or twice per month they don’t hesitate to buzz around you. And sooner or later they die, like we all will, even our children. Death has no age, limit, entrance, or exit. As a matter of fact, death seems to be quite busy nowadays. Yet, it too takes time to take life. So take time to plant good seeds in a child’s life – life that matters like yours, like mine, like ours.

Our children live our experiences until they are able to acquire their own. In the meantime from birth to adulthood, they travel our busyness, life, walk, and they many roads we travel. Our children come along willingly or unwillingly but nonetheless we are responsible for their memories, growth, pains, and happiness. Whether our lives are good or bad, they see it, know it, and they will take hold of our values, whatever they may be from our mouth to our actions, to their own children.

Give a better excuse to a child than, “I’m busy”, even a little white lie is better than that and even that is bad. Like I said earlier, telling a child you’re busy, tells them, you have no love, care, or concern for them and by the way, you’re not even worth taking the time to reach out to you. Children remember everything, well not everything, but I’m sure the things that really hurt. Sometimes they won’t say it, maybe just act it out, but they know.

To be honest, the only time table they really know about is in school – Multiplication! So take the time, if you really are busy just simply explain that to your child and let them know you love them. But don’t wait weeks and weeks, months and months, years and years, making the same excuse. You probably are busy, but once again at what cost? Please don’t think your busyness makes you important. Yes, it will put food on your table, pay the bills, make a great presentation, buy you a dream house or car or on the flip side of the coin, give you a great big heart attack leaving you on your death bed surrounded by all your loves one, you know the ones you were too busy for especially your children - but they made time for you. Maybe they really didn’t have a choice.

Take on a hold new busyness attitude. Be busy with those you love while working towards your goals and making your dreams come true in good health, mind, body, soul, and spirit. Simply put good conscience.