The first line of this article summed everything up for me. I did the reverse of what many mothers did. When our children were small, I worked full-time. When our eldest was in 3rd grade, I quit working for a period of time to be more present in the kids' lives. Now, I'm part-time during the middle school and high school years. And you know what? In many ways, though they would never admit it, I do believe that they do need me more now than they did when they were very small. With teenagers, they can go downhill in a heartbeat if left unsupervised. Let's face it, there are so many more temptations for kids now than there were when we were young. I would never cast stones at anyone else for the choices they are making, but for our family, this is the way to go.

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One thing I've found out is what may work with one child will not necessarily work with the others. One liked knowing what chores were expected of her during the week, while two of our other kids liked having options of what they could choose from on a daily basis to get their weekly chores done. We as parents, need to learn to treat our kids with the same amount of love and respect, while at the same time loving and respecting each one with their own uniqueness! It can be a difficult balancing act, until you find one that works! But when you do...run with it!! Life once again can be harmonous!

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