Scott and I are the proud parents of awesome teenagers. Having 3 teenagers AT THE SAME TIME is a unique, and at times, maddening situation.

Scott and our oldest at last year’s candlelight service. No fear of people burning themselves when they’re all old and stuff;).

Peaceful teenager coexistence. Lovely.

The first few years we found ourselves in this predicament, I grieved a little. I didn’t have any little kids at home that believed in Santa, and certain things just didn’t delight them like they used to. Try as I might, my teenagers aren’t really interested in decorating sugar cookies or watching Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas (for the 4th time) any more. Oh, and taking them to see the tree at the Galleria doesn’t elicit gasps of delight. They’ve been there. Done that. Have the t-shirt.

They’re also harder to shop for and our tree looks much different than it used to on Christmas morning because everything they ask for costs approximately one hundred dollars. So you can’t really get a lot of those things. Well, maybe you can. We can’t.

Teenagers do this a lot. They didn’t do this when they were toddlers. EVER.

But even though some things are less magical, some things are so much better.

1. Nobody gets up at 5am Christmas morning. We’re lucky if we get started by 9 which allows me to get up before everyone else, have some coffee and say a prayer. It’s actually quite nice.
2. People put their own gifts together. This year, there is a weight set and a desk that look quite complicated. We feel zero pressure to put these things together. Isn’t doing it themselves part of the gift?? Ya know, like more sophisticated Legos.
3. They fully participate in GIVING gifts. When they were young they tried, but these days they are really involved – both in spirit and (wait for it) financially! Yes, they actually contributed toward each other’s gifts and, in the case of the oldest, paid for Christmas entirely on his own thanks to his job. He even paid for gifts for Scott and I. I still can’t get over that.
4. They are much better at cleaning up. I can go make breakfast and say “you guys clean up the family room” and guess what? They actually do it. And they do it correctly.
5. They know how to re-heat leftovers and make their own food. This might be my favorite part. No longer do I have to prepare food all day (after preparing food all day). I can stock our fridge for the week, throw a few frozen pizzas in the freezer for good measure, and outside of our big meals it’s every man for himself. Quite nice.