Where Did Everybody Go?

I became a parent on the later side of the child-bearing age spectrum, and was always comforted by the knowledge that I had virtually unlimited resources to help me through my introduction to parenthood.  My husband had been through it before, so he was the expert burper and diaper changer.  And I am a consummate researcher, so I was confident that the limitless books, magazine articles, and blogs the world had to offer would answer most any question I could possibly have. And for the most part, they did.

But now we’re coming into the teen years, and here’s where it gets dicey, because the stakes are getting much higher.  And with the crush of new issues – puberty, hormones, dances, sexting, drugs, My Space, peer pressure, junior high, etc. – I feel like I need a crash course in this new phase of parenting.    So recently I began my research, which soon came to a screeching halt.  Where were all the tween parenting books, support groups, magazines, and blogs?  The answer is:  there aren’t any.  I’m not seeing them anywhere.  And it’s making me a bit nervous.  Because in today’s world, the transition from child to tween and teen is not what it used to be – today’s kids are more knowledgeable, more sophisticated, and . . . more everything.

My husband reminds me that we have a great kid and insists that I have nothing to worry about.  He’s probably right, but I have a feeling that parenting through the tween years and beyond is going to be really challenging, even under the best of circumstances.    It’s going to be hard work, and I have a feeling I’m going to feel like a failure sometimes.  Has anyone been there?  Your thoughts?