Teenagers Old and New

Oh my gosh, I'm blogging! I think I'll welcome myself to the 21st century. I'm sort of feeling like a teenager today. Who'd have thought I'd be writing an online journal? I've come a long way from scribbling each night in my cloth-covered flowered little diary with the gold lock in 5th grade. (Which I still have!) When I was a kid, personal computers were something far in the future and the internet - who could have imagined? Heck, we didn't even have calculators back then. My dad was a civil engineer and used a slide rule. They used slide rules to go to the moon! Isn't that a scary thought? The 60s and 70s are starting to feel like the Dark Ages. Gulp. No, I did NOT say that! I'm not getting older! I REFUSE to get older . . .(stamps foot). Is it obvious I'm a 40-something fighting middle age? I think I read that middle age has been pushed to 60 now. Sounds good to me.

Yes, I do still feel like a teenager, even with teenage kids of my own. And it becomes even more apparent to me when I'm with the 14-16 year olds in my class in the early morning hour. They're funny, sometimes goofy, shy, extroverted, smart, silly, sleepy, grumpy, sometimes annoying, but mostly great kids. Inside, they're just like teenagers were thirty years ago. The angst. The uncertainty. The hopefulness. The girls giggling with the boys in the hall and coming to class late. (This morning, ahem.) The basic problems with friends and family and schoolwork and schedules. Some things never change. The outside appearance does, but what's on the inside - I don't think so.

And I like that.