While raising teens, we need to find the strength within ourselves to bend and be flexible even on the hard days. 

It doesn’t mean bend backwards to the point of giving in and letting go of our needs but leaning in to meet our teen halfway. 

It doesn’t mean sabotaging our own beliefs but rather finding a compromise to walk alongside one another. 

It means loving them even when it’s hard.

It means loving them hard and then some more.

It means listening to every story, dream and moment they share.

Even when raising teens is hard.

It means listening hard and then some more.

It means holding back for them to grow.

It means holding back, which is difficult, and then some more.

It means being a constant in their lives within this world of chaos.

It means being a constant and then being a constant some more. 

It means leaning in.

It means leaning in hard and understanding some more. 

Even when raising teens is hard.

It means validating.

It means validating hard and then some more. 

It means offering space.

It means offering space to travel their path and then some more.

It means bending to meet the needs of our teen so we can continue to walk along the path with them. 

A path filled with twists and turns and bends and breaks in the road, supporting their journey while we, as moms, bend and sometimes break guiding them along the way. 

Even when raising teens is hard.

But isn’t this what raising teens is all about? 

Seeking to find the joy in the hard? 

The love within the muck? 

And to find the bend, within ourselves, knowing the path ahead is wide open and ready to be explored? 

So as I continue to wonder about all that lies ahead for my precious teen I will continue to bend as much as I can, even on the hard days.