These Teens

I had a yard sale today, so I was out front ALL morning and part of the afternoon. In our neighborhood, there are kids of all ages everywhere you look. The teen skater boy crew came thru showing off for Breeze and another neighborhood girl.

A few of them decided to come over and see if we had anything that might interest them (aside from my daughter, of course), and spotted a tiny little Elmo beanie. They debated over who got to buy Elmo, and once one of them became the proud owner, they bolted across the neighbor's yard yelling, "Dude! We got Elmo! Check it out!" I still laugh when I think about it.

And what is it with the boys and their hairstyles these days? Am I really *that* old? My mind screams, "That kid needs a haircut" at the sight of almost every one of them around here.

The girls in Breeze's circle really impress me. There's one that I'm not crazy about, but Breeze has put some distance between the two of them lately. The others, though, are very polite, sweet, funny girls who aren't afraid to speak to ME. I don't trust a kid who avoids all contact possible with their friends' parents. A couple of them showed up today while B had gone to get change for me, and they hung out and talked to me for a half hour. Another one has begun calling me "Mom". And none of these girls are the uber-girly cheerleader types, either. They aren't the giggly, squealing, silly carbon copies of each other whose world revolves around shopping and boys. Yeah, they're interested and most of them have boyfriends, but they haven't lost THEIR identity. I LOVE that about them.