I thought you'd like to hear from another Mom who is raising teenage boys.
Here's Kathy's response to my blog on my life with teens.

I loved this blog, it really made me smile!
I have 12 & 14 year old boys, I don't think the eye roll is as common with boys as it is girls, but I still do get it occasionally.
But let me tell ya, I enjoy each and everyone of them. The boys and I had a difficult 2007 as I left a bad marriage (their step dad) and then was diagnosed with breast cancer. Enjoy every little moment with your kids…
Oh and go for the belly piercing, I did it two years ago and I love it!

Thank you,
Kathy
****
So, what do you think, should I take the piercing plunge?

Laural

Here's my original blog
"When Your Teen's eyes Roll"

My daughter's eyes rolled so far back in her head and her eyes
fluttered for so long that I thought maybe she was having a seizure.

But, when she finally opened her eyes and looked at me, I realized
she had just done an especially long teenage eye roll.

It was a reaction to a question my husband asked about her school day during dinner one night.

I really can't remember what he asked, but I'll never forget the eye roll.

My other kids, also teenagers, and I laughed. She made her point.
End of discussion on that topic.

This happened on the same day I read an article about teen brains and moodiness.
It has something to do with an area of the brain called the armygdala, which is involved with fear and emotions.

Apparently, it's still maturing in teens, and may explain why teens talk back to their parents,and maybe why they roll their eyes.

I wondered if I had the eye roll mastered when I was a teen. I have to remember to ask my Mom, though, I am sure I couldn't have done it as well as my daughter did.

I have loved raising teenagers. I have three teenage daughters and a 13 year old son.

We have fascinating dinner conversations and they try to keep me just a little bit hip.

The same daughter who rolled her eyes convinced me to let her get the upper cartilage on her ear pierced for her 16th birthday.

I had let my oldest daughter do it a few years ago, so I could hardly say no.

I remember former KGW Newschannel 8 staffer, Colin Cowherd, gave me one piece of advice that stuck with me.

"Piercing her upper ear, hec' that's better than a lot of other things.
She'll just rebel if you don't give in on the little stuff."

So, Colin is the reason all three of my daughters have extra assorted piercings.

I took them to a local place with a scary name, but it was sanitary and the people were nice and professional.

While we were there, I joked that I had thought about getting my belly button pierced.

My daughters said, "That is disgusting, Mom!"

( I knew they meant disgusting on me, not the piercing itself.)

I think that's when I did my own eye roll!

I'd love to hear your stories about raising teens.

Laural

Posted by at 5:53 PM | Permalink

My daughter's eyes rolled so far back in her head and her eyes
fluttered for so long that I thought maybe she was having a seizure.

But, when she finally opened her eyes and looked at me, I realized
she had just done an especially long teenage eye roll.

It was a reaction to a question my husband asked about her school day during dinner one night.

I really can't remember what he asked, but I'll never forget the eye roll.

My other kids, also teenagers, and I laughed. She made her point.
End of discussion on that topic.

This happened on the same day I read an article about teen brains and moodiness.
It has something to do with an area of the brain called the armygdala, which is involved with fear and emotions.

Apparently, it's still maturing in teens, and may explain why teens talk back to their parents,and maybe why they roll their eyes.

I wondered if I had the eye roll mastered when I was a teen. I have to remember to ask my Mom, though, I am sure I couldn't have done it as well as my daughter did.

I have loved raising teenagers. I have three teenage daughters and a 13 year old son.

We have fascinating dinner conversations and they try to keep me just a little bit hip.

The same daughter who rolled her eyes convinced me to let her get the upper cartilage on her ear pierced for her 16th birthday.

I had let my oldest daughter do it a few years ago, so I could hardly say no.

I remember former KGW Newschannel 8 staffer, Colin Cowherd, gave me one piece of advice that stuck with me.

"Piercing her upper ear, hec' that's better than a lot of other things.
She'll just rebel if you don't give in on the little stuff."

So, Colin is the reason all three of my daughters have extra assorted piercings.

I took them to a local place with a scary name, but it was sanitary and the people were nice and professional.

While we were there, I joked that I had thought about getting my belly button pierced.

My daughters said, "That is disgusting, Mom!"

( I knew they meant disgusting on me, not the piercing itself.)

I think that's when I did my own eye roll!

I'd love to hear your stories about raising teens.

Laural

Posted by at 7:07 PM | Permalink

I wanted to share some of the responses I've gotten to the story on the plight of Moon bears in China. Some from knitters anxious to help, one from a Portlander in Beijing who would like to see some cooperation between the Oregon Zoo and the Beijing Zoo.
Interesting idea.

If you missed the story you can watch it on the web under special reports right here at kgw.com.

Hi Tracy,

Thank you for drawing attention to the plight of moon bears in China. I am from Portland and am in Beijing through the summer Olympics. Animals Asia Foundation is doing great work. Another sad issue is the condition of the animals in the zoos over here. If zoos can be considered prisons then the animals in the Beijing zoo all live on death row. I wonder if this is something that the Oregon Zoo might be able to help with in some way as well? Again, thank you for your attention to the moon bear issue.
Sharon

And as always, thank you for watching and in this case knitting!

Tracy Barry

Posted by at 3:20 PM | Permalink

I know a lot of you are animal lovers out there. Me too of course. Which is why I wanted to do the story that is airing tonight in our 6pm newscast. It's about efforts to rescue bears out of actual bear farms in China and some other Asian Countries.

Honestly, until recently I knew nothing about these bear farms so I'm guessing that many of you don't either. A few weeks ago I finished reading a novel by Lisa See called Flower Net that deals with the bear farms. Since it was a novel I couldn't help but wonder if the bear farm descriptions were real. I'm sad to say they are.

You can imagine my surprise when that same week I got an email from the Oregon Zoo asking me if I wanted to do a story on some volunteers trying to help a group that rescues the bears. Clearly it was meant to be. The volunteers are knitting mittens to keep the bears warm when they are operated on at the rescue center. You have to see how big these mittens are!

This is a tough subject. The bears are "milked" for their bile which is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine. I want you to know the shocking truth about what's going on, but I don't want to be so graphic that you can't stand to watch the story. I hope I've hit a balance. One thing I don't get into is that studies have shown repeatedly that the bear bile is an effective treatment for many medical issues. Since it's been used for 3-thousand years getting people to accept the just as effective synthetic replacements is very difficult.

I want to offer a couple of links so you can learn much more if you are so inclined.

You can read about the organization trying to end bear farming at
http://www.animalsasia.org

The yarn shop that is helping zoo volunteers make mittens for the rescued bears is
http://www.twistedpdx.com

The yarn shop Twisted is really cool by the way. One of the owners Emily Kizer came up with the pattern for the bear mittens. Emily did admit when the call first came in from the zoo she thought it might be a prank! But it checked out. The zoo sent her over a picture of what the bear paw looked like and some dimensions and she went to work.

Check it out and as always thanks for watching.

Tracy Barry

Posted by at 12:45 PM | Permalink

I received a surprise package in the mail at work today.
It felt a little bit like Christmas. I wondered, who could this be from?

I was delighted to find inside a nice note from a woman I had just interviewed and
a pretty pink necklace her sister had made.
The necklace is called a "Love for Lisa" pendant, made by Krissy for her sister, Lisa Carmody of Tigard.

The necklace is inspired by the pink ribbon symbol of breast cancer awareness,but it has
its own unique interpretation with silver leaves and pink flower petals to signify life, with the petals forming hearts representing love.

It's a perfect symbol for a courageous woman, wife and mother, who is facing breast cancer with more strength and grace than I could ever imagine having myself.

41 year old Lisa Carmody learned she had breast cancer at Thanksgiving time.
She had her first chemotherapy treatment on December 6th.
That coincidentally is my birthday.
When I heard this, I thought while I was worrying about turning another year older, Lisa was dealing with losing her hair and how to tell her three precious daughters, that their Mommy has breast cancer.

Lisa got some help in this difficult situation from her oncologist, well-known breast cancer surgeon, Dr. Nathalie Johnson.
Dr. Johnson is the Medical Director for the Legacy Cancer Program, and somehow found the time to write a book, "Mommy Found A Lump".
It's designed to help young moms diagnosed with breast cancer explain what is happening to their Mom and their family.

I spent an afternoon with Lisa as she read "Mommy Found A Lump" to her daughters, Nicole, age 7;Kayla, age 5; and Christine age 3.
The story is told through the eyes of 7 year old Julianna, and helped Lisa's girls ask their Mom
questions.

"Mommy how long will you be in the hospital?"
"Is that where you get your medicine, Mommy?"

Lisa and her husband,Pat, inspired me with their courage and optimism in the face of what could be a family crisis.
Through their love, their family's support, and their doctor's skills and compassion; the Carmody family is turning the experience into one that is making their family even stronger.

Please join me for a Newschannel 8 special report, "Cancer Comes Home" at 5pm on Tuesday,February 5th, and meet the Carmody family.

I think the two minutes you spend watching their story will leave you uplifted.
It certainly affected me in a profound way and I will proudly wear my
"Love for Lisa" pendant.

Somehow it seems by showing our support for Lisa, she is giving us strength.

Laural

Posted by at 4:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)