There are times where it seems that all we do as parents is annoy our children.

• like when we make them go to bed at a regular time
• or when we make them change their underwear…every day!
• wash behind their ears
• clean up their room
• give Great-Aunt Martha a hug even if she does smell like moldy roses because she is eighty years old and this might be the last time we ever see her…never mind we felt the the same way about hugging her when we were little kids.
• when we make them eat their vegetables
• or when we make them turn off the video games/computer/television and play outside for goodness sakes

Oh it goes on and on my friend!

I have to say that it gets easier…to annoy our children, that is. When they’re thirteen or fourteen just the fact that we breathe in and out on a regular basis is annoying enough.

I know!

I used to be around thirteen or fourteen years old…once.

No!

Really!

And my Mom and Dad were the master and mistress of annoyance.

But now it is my turn as the mother of a fourteen year old. Since she is my #4 child, I am really good at this annoying your teenager just by living and breathing thing. No, I am really good at this.

At this very moment she is absolutely DYING! I know this because I get her Twitter feed and read her tweets. She just now tweeted: “stuck with mom & dad at bbq. HELP ME SOMEONE PLEASE!

She’s got a pool, a hot tub, all the sodas to drink, junk food to eat. What’s not to love?

Oh yeah.

The parents. They are here.

Poor kid.

My work is done here and I didn’t even have to lift a finger.

Yet I know that someday she will recall this day, this barbecue party and it will be one of those really fun days that she shared with mom and dad. How do I know? Well, she is my 4th child.