I have to get a job? Great..

Wow, I was sixteen years old. I had my own vehicle and a driver’s license. That was the most incredible, free feeling I had known, but the repercussion of that was it was time to find a job. Luckily, I landed a job with my Mom, but still, I couldn't go home and take naps after school or go eat with my girlfriends. I had to go to work.

I make it sound a lot worse than it actually was. I had money, more than I usually had in my pocket, but the constant reminder of my car insurance note killed my motive to go get those new shoes. At first it was hard to learn how to manage money. Many times I would not have enough money to cover my one bill and my parents would give me a rain-check but would remind me not to let it happen again.

Working made the biggest impression on me when I noticed some of my friends who drove brand new cars and weren't expected to pay for any of it or to help pay for any of their bills. It really bothered me. It made me have respect for my parents for wanting me to go out and make money for myself so I could become more responsible. I never mentioned that to my parents until now because truly, I would have loved to be one of those kids but I knew these decisions would help me in the long run.

That alone made the biggest impression on me as a teenager. I experienced other occurrences that molded my view of my parents, but this was the one that spoke volumes. This changed my view of my parents, or adults in general, because going to work every day and having to support a family is a lot harder than I thought. I didn't even have the children or husband to support, just my little truck. That alone was enough to teach me major life lessons.

Today, I still work and pay for my car insurance as well as help my parents with some of my tuition. My parents deciding I needed to work has molded me into a better person today. On the other hand, I have also lost respect for some people. Even some of my friends, or so called friends, I cannot stand to be around because they are so spoiled. Their parents pay for the brand new car, all of their shopping expenses, and never ask them to help; a huge mistake in my opinion.

It’s amazing how one change in a teenager's life can literally change an outlook on life forever. Knowing what I know now and what I've learned from being responsible will help me teach my kids in the future to do the same. I don’t want them to be irresponsible, spoiled little children. I will expect them to do the same as I did when I turned sixteen, and if they have anything wrong with that then I will keep their keys. It all comes down to wonderful parenting skills, and my parent’s skills have helped me greatly and changed my viewpoint on adults, for the better.

Graduation 2012

Santa Claus Was Really Mommy and Daddy

Christmas of 1998 was a very special celebration. My parents had just finalized their divorce so my Mom and me were living at my Grandpa’s house. Every year around Christmas time I would get so excited because I knew I would get the best toys. Even though 1998 had been a tough year on myself as well as my Mom, we still kept the Christmas spirit. One of the hit things that little 4 year old girls loved was Barbie’s. And I mean Barbie’s everything. Barbie Dolls, Barbie clothes, Barbie shoes, Barbie House, Barbie car; literally everything I had was Barbie material.

The one thing I was missing was the life-size Barbie Jeep at Toys ‘R Us. It was bright candy pink with “chrome” rims and even had hot pink tires! It was any little girls dream to own a hot pink Barbie Jeep and me being the car fanatic I’ve always been, I could not live without it. Every time we went past the store I begged my Mom to just let me go sit in it one more time but she knew if she made that mistake she’d leave the store with a screaming and crying baby. She sure was smart.

So it was the night, Christmas Eve, and I was lucky enough that I was allowed to sleep on the couch in the living room so as soon as I woke up I could open all of my presents. I was all tucked in and ready for Christmas as I dosed off most likely watching Veggie Tales before bed. But quickly I awoke. There was a lot of noise going on outside and the front door was wide open. No one was in sight, so like a curious child, I looked outside the front door to see what all the noise was coming from. There was my Mom and what is now my Step Dad unloading a brand new, hot pink, absolutely beautiful Barbie Jeep out of his truck. They were carrying it to the front porch, then they set it down and covered it up with a tarp. I could not believe it, was this real life? My dreams had come true, but what if I walk outside right now? What would happen to me, would they take the jeep away, would I get in serious trouble for being too curious? I quickly contemplated on what I should do next and I thought, even though I wanted to run outside, I figured I should go lay back down and act like I was asleep. A few minutes later my Mom came back inside and snuck back to her room. I got back up and looked through the window at the Jeep covered up. I was dying of excitement.

Before I knew it, it was Christmas morning! As I awoke in a drowsy state of hunger, I remembered what beautiful present there was sitting on the front porch! I quickly asked my Mom if I could open my presents. She of course was so excited for me to open them so she handed them all to me and I started unwrapping presents like a crazy person. After completely trashing the living room. she told me I had one more present waiting for me from Santa on the front porch. She opened the door and slowly walked me outside while she covered my eyes. Let me tell you I was dying inside, literally dying. She uncovered my eyes and there she was. The most beautiful thing I had ever witnessed. I do recall screaming, quite loudly from excitement of course. She reminded me that being a good girl throughout the year definitely paid off and that had Santa rewarded me well this year! But of course, me always ruining things, I told her that I watched her bring it onto the porch the night before. The tale of Santa Claus was over for me, Mommy and Daddy were Santa Claus!

She was so, so upset. I had literally crushed her hopes and dreams. But I didn't care, I had my Barbie Jeep! In the end, we all laugh about it. The worst part was when I went back to school and told all the kids how Santa Claus was really my parents; that didn't go over well. I had it all wrong. That's something to look back on and have a good laugh. That's my best childhood memory.