Raising teens and being a failed career's advisor...

Well here we are again, Monday. So what is it this time? Is it because I'm fed up of being the one observing everyone else enjoy their lives, have successful careers and live happy and fulfilled lives while I sit at home and dream of being some sort of writer where I can inspire others with my insight and stories? Or is it because my period is due in the week, and, between us, I always feel mighty irritated the week before my period comes. Perhaps it's the realisation that, the next 10 years are not going to get easier, but actually harder, wherei I will not only have to guide and support children in their higher education but also create a career path, arrange to visit open days, a heap of paperwork and, worst of all, decisions, decisions, decisions. The worst decisions are always over education. How can I choose what's best for my daughters and son when so far I have not managed to use my education for anything useful. But, as parents, we of course want the best opportunities for our children and do not want to be responsible for not laying them there before them like red carpet at a move premiere. We can't push, only nudge perhaps, and pick them up when they fall flat on their face, not forgetting of course having to be a memory bank for my husband and son who seem incapable of absorbing any information for longer than five minutes. Small children are a whole different ballgame and come with their own set of challenges; snotty noses, broken bones, high-pitched screaming, and smelly nappies, not to mention the stress of having to remember how you played the tooth fairy, Father Christmas and the Easter bunny last year so you can keep the dream alive and not, ever, reveal the truth. But if you wanted to read and follow a book with instructions about what to do with your 7 year old or newbo baby, you probably could. But how do you read a book about which sixth form college to go to, whether to do A-levels or the International Baccalaureate, which subjects to choose and which you will need for your (Freudian slip! - I meant 'their') chosen career, and what the hell will that career be mum?!!!

As far as I know, there is no book that can tell you how to peel your daughter off her sofa and talk to you about one of the most important times of her life where her decisions now will affect her for the rest of her life, without actually telling her that or putting any stress on her. Oh gawd! It's a long road ahead and it is unlikely to go through Califo ian vineyards or along the Inca trail, and at the end of it, you will almost certainly have done wrong.