This guy? Not my husband, but made me cry A LOT.
I’m not sure how I managed this, but somehow I’ve gone and scheduled myself to write one of the first posts on Miss Unlimited, Aiming Low’s new channel for teen girls. This channel is pretty special to me because a) I was a teen girl NOT THAT LONG AGO and b) my daughter will be a teen girl IN THE VERY FAR AWAY FUTURE – which means I’m pretty freaked out about messing everything up from the get-go.
Freaking out about pressure and screwing everything up? Sounds a heck of a lot like my high school experience.
BUT! While I haven’t changed completely or outgrown all of my insecurities, there are a few things I’ve learned that I wish someone who was not my mother (because I didn’t believe anything she said) would have told me.
5 Things I Wish My Best Friend Had Told Me in High School
Your curly hair is awesome. No one I knew had curly hair, or maybe they did but they were also spending hours every morning smoothing and straightening. I wish my best friend would have told me I looked best when I just embraced my natural style. It would have saved me a lot of money on products that never worked.
Having curves does not mean you’re fat. I’m pretty sure I was born with hips and thighs, but it wasn’t until my friends became mothers that I noticed other females are not always long and lanky. Yes, some people are – and that’s awesome for them – but an hourglass figure becomes hot the moment you stop crying over it. I wasted precious hot years.
Cigarette smoke stinks. And it’s an absolute nightmare to quit once you realize that you’re no longer a cool kid that smokes but an adult with a cigarette hanging out of your mouth.
It doesn’t matter why people are jerks. My mother loved to tell me people who didn’t like me were jealous (or insecure, or secretly crushing on me.) The thing is, it didn’t matter why because it wasn’t even about me, it was about them. My friends and I could have spent less time trying to figure out what motivated bullies and more time talking about how cool everyone else was.
Our friendship will last longer than your relationship with your boyfriend. It’s true – boyfriends come and go but a few really, really great girlfriends will stand up at your wedding when you marry someone else entirely. I wish my best friend and I would have set aside as much time for each other as we did for dates. That girlfriend time is precious and a lot harder to come by later in life.
About Britt Reints
This is perfect. If I had a daughter, I’d pass it down. Hips and thighs, indeed.
Yup, yup, yup, yup, yup! Agree with all of the above and I’m going to make sure both of my teenage daughters get links to this post and the blog! Although, me being the mom, they probably won’t pay attention to me. Sigh.
I wish i had someone telling me those kinds of thing NOW too!!
Twitter Name: Anissa Mayhew
pretty damn amazing that it is universal for teenaged girls to not believe their mommas about…well…anything. meanwhile our mothers were right about all of it. especially that we ARE beautiful.
these five points were spot on. i’m pretty certain i don’t know a woman alive who would disagree with you.
Twitter Name: hellohahanarf
I just read a quote the other day that said, “High school is not a time to find your groom. It’s a time to find your bridesmaids.” Very true words. My best friend from high school knows me better than anyone in the world. She and I have been with each other thru everything: marriages, divorces, babies, teenagers, being overweight, being underweight (for real!) and finally coming to the point where we both realize that we are pretty damn awesome.
I’m hoping and praying that my teenage daughter has an easier time accepting the beautiful person she is than I did. So far, she’s off to a good start!
Twitter Name: BuffiSugarMommy
Love the quote above …
How lovely to see Miss Britt right here doing this fab new thang, just no end to her talents at all.
My oldest will be 14 in January, for now I am thankful she is globally wise and not worldy wise. Its a tough world out there today, we need to guide them well!
Twitter Name: ByWordsMusings
Must print and save for Thing 1. Thanks, Britt.
Twitter Name: homeanduncool
I wish I had known that curly hair thing, too. I spend hours trying to get my hair straight with perfectly teased bangs in grade 9 and it was such a frizz-ball disaster. Sigh.
I wish I didn’t focus so much on the boys I liked or why they didn’t like me. God, the tears I cried during some school dances! Not worth it!
As the owner of Asian-stick straight hair, I cried to get hair just like yours!
Twitter Name: Anissa Mayhew
Told ya!
Twitter Name: Whatsananna
Funny how our moms get wiser the older we get.
Twitter Name: msmegan
These are so exactly right! Also, to have a peer who was wise enough to tell you that teenage boys are, by and large, idiots would have been good.
Twitter Name: prCarrS
I pretty much still don’t believe anything my mom says! Every girl needs someone to tell her these things. They’re all spot on!
Twitter Name: ellemmes
I wish my best friend would have told me these things too but my BFF was as clueless as I was. Maybe I should have just listened to my Mother:) She proved wiser than I ever gave her credit for!
Twitter Name: Truthfulmommy
The great thing is when those same friends are still there to tell you a lot of that stuff NOW.
Twitter Name: JWMoxie
Great post :)
May I add one?
I wish all my girlfriends would have told me what a cheating JERK my boyfriend was! (They should have sat me down intervention style ;)
Girlfriends are friends when boyfriends aren’t. I said it, I just wish I’d known it sooner.
Twitter Name: Megan Beach
I have one girlfriend that we sort of fell apart over a boy (who is now my husband) and we have tried to put it back together again over the years, but it just isn’t the same. It stinks and I miss her a lot, I could have handled things differently….I know that now.
Twitter Name: DExtraordinaire
Ditto to what others said—I need those BFFS to tell me these things NOW. Seriously!
Wonderful post. I relate to so much of this. And am right there with you–I have 2 (almost 3) daughters and am nervous about their teen/tween years…
Twitter Name: erinmargolin