Fun

There are so many meaningful things to say about being a foster/adoptive parent to a teenager, but its also just really fun:

- I currently have a command of the lyrics to popular songs that defies most members of my demographic.

- It's fun living with someone who still watches cartoons but also knows how to read a subway map and navigate in the car.

- Thanks to T., I can do the dougie and the charlie brown, and I even invented my own dance move, which I call "the scarecrow".

- I love Monday nights when we go to the movies in our matching pajamas that T. bought for us for Christmas.

- I really like shopping with him. He has great taste and his teenage obsession with switching up his style now and then is great fun. Adults should try it more often.

- When he's happy and wants to show it, he tickles my feet, bites my nose, or pulls on my hair. I grew up an eldest and I'm not used to being teased. It makes me feel great.

- I am a total jock, and I finally have a live-in competitor who keeps me striving. So far this year I broke one finger playing football with him and another when we took snowboarding lessons; we also tried surfing, rockclimbing, bowling, hiking and this summer we've planned to try indoor skydiving and waterskiing.

- I know how to play Fight Night, Madden 10 and Wii tennis now.

- Taken with the right amount of humor and distance, the ups and downs of teen social life are like having a soap opera play out right in your own home.

- We always have Doritos and ice cream in the house now.

I think there's a lot written about the difficulties of fostering and adopting teenagers and perhaps not so much about the joys. I'd love to hear from some other parents about what you do for fun.