I am not my daughter. I know this logically, but it doesn’t
stop me from assuming that she feels the same things I felt when I was her age
or reacts to situations the way I did when I was a teen. I lay my own fears and
insecurities on her, empathizing perhaps too much. She is much braver than I
was or am.
I worry for her unnecessarily and don’t understand her
annoyance when I try to share my sympathy or support. I spend endless hours
sorting through my memories, reliving particularly painful events and imagining
her experiencing a similar awkwardness. But times have changed and that old
saying that nothing ever changes could not be farther from the truth. Our kids
are growing up in a very different time.
We had the buffer of space and time that they don’t have in
this age of instant feedback and constant images. You can’t close your door.
The TV doesn’t turn all fuzzy at midnight and the phone is never busy. There is
constant scrutiny 24/7. There is always someone available to chat or skype or
text. It is never quiet.
Every move that is made is noted on twitter or Facebook or Tumblr
or some other social network I’m too old and out of it to know about. You can’t
untag some images and the lenses are everywhere recording your every move
whether you want it or not.
It is nearly impossible to be a private person. People,
voices, messages, images, and news bear down on you every waking moment. It
makes it hard to sleep or think. All three of my teens spend almost every
waking hour wearing earbuds which pound out a personal soundtrack for their
lives. I wave my hands at them to get their attention in much the same way I
call our deaf dog. They yank the ear buds out, annoyed before I’ve said my
first word.
