Jeanne Ryan Reflects on How Nice It is to Have a Helpful Teenager

I could not even imagine being a kid today, with social media, pressures at school, and everything moving at a super fast pace.

I say to our kids all the time that I do not envy them growing up in this time period, but with that comes kids growing up pretty quickly. It seems like just yesterday that our son Cody was running around the house in his Spiderman pajamas, boy how times have changed. He has grown into an incredible young man who has a heart of gold and is always willing to help.

Rarely does he ever need to be asked, he sees what needs to be done around the house and is the first to jump to it and help out. What is really nice right now is that with him on the cusp of being 16, he has picked up quite a few skills. Either with working on cars, to building a garage in one of his classes in school. So when anything needs repaired or we have a big project to do he is our "Mr. Fix It."

Case and point this weekend we needed our dryer vent replaced, and some bushes I had to get cut down needed to be dug up in the front yard. I was out of the house bright and early Saturday morning and much to my surprise I came home to the dryer vent having been replaced and 3 of the 4 bushes already dug up. He got up bright and early, on the weekend no less, to get this stuff done. All on his own with out even being asked.

Being a parent can be very challenging at times and you just do the best you can hoping that your kids will grow up to be kind and helpful to others, so when things like this just happen it is something that makes your heart feel full. So, even though teens can be a challenge at times, know it is a phase and keep on keeping on and know that in time all that you have put into raising your kids will hopefully help them grow into amazing adults.