A few days ago I ran into an old acquaintance of mine whom I haven’t seen in a few years. Our kids went to elementary school together and then went off in different directions to different middle schools and we lost touch. She has two daughters ages 11 and 15. As you know I have five children ages: 12, 14, 16. 17 and 19. It was nice to catch up after we both admitted we couldn’t remember each other’s names, which was scary because we used to pretty good friends. I told her the teen years have fried my brain. I have a lot more gray hairs I joked. She laughed and then our conversation turned serious. I shared my travails of divorcing, remarrying, moving and blending five children. She confided in me the emotional toll raising her one teenager has had on her with a look of exasperation that made think to myself “AS IF!!!! TRY MULTIPLYING THAT BY FIVE LADY!!!!”  Here’s the rub. This woman is a therapist. She is trained in marriage and family counseling. If she’s having a hard time with it, then where does that leave the rest of us? (Big sigh.) I assured her that her oldest was blazing a trail for the youngest and that it will get easier as she herself gets older and wiser. The mind is kind. That’s why we forget things. Childbirth. The teen years. It will all be a blur.