It’s official. I did it! As we celebrated our younger daughter’s 20^th birthday this week, I reflected on surviving the teenage years. I share those reflections in week 20 of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a sustainable living tip for the week.

Also this week: oil companies reap record profits, U.K. company makes roads from plastic waste, doctors prescribe park time, and ideas for experience gifts.

The Sunday Spark – Week 20

On my mind this week: Surviving the teenage years

As of May 16, at 8:56 PM, I am no longer the mom of a teenager. With my daughter Colleen turning 20, I can now say I raised two teenage daughters and lived to tell the tale.    

I’m a little older and worse for wear than I was in 2013 when my daughter Laura turned 13. I could blame my grey hair on parenting two teenage daughters, but I have genetics to thank for that. And it appears I have passed the early-greying gene on to my daughters. But I digress.   

Things I’m grateful for

When Colleen turned 18, I shared my top 10 parenting tips. This week, as I reflected on the momentous achievement of surviving the teenage years, I felt grateful that past decade was nowhere near as bad as I expected. With that in mind, I made a list of a few qualities about my daughters that I’m grateful for:

• They never got into much mischief or trouble as teenagers. When they would tell me horror stories about their high school classmates, I counted my blessings. I still do.
• They both have a strong work ethic, holding part-time jobs from age 15 while juggling extracurricular activities and maintaining high marks.
• They have grown into intelligent and thoughtful young adults with a strong sense of right and wrong.
• They care about what’s going on in the world and, unlike many other people their age, have voted in every municipal, provincial and federal election since turning 18.
• Other than Laura dying her hair every colour in the rainbow, neither one is obsessed with hair, makeup or fashion. Hmm…I wonder where they get that from.
• Each is forging their path in her own way. Laura’s an adventurous type who will pick up and travel anywhere for a concert or a new experience. Colleen, while more cautious, is bravely navigating the male-dominated world of skilled trades.

Looking at this list is a powerful reminder that our kids pick up many things from the example we set as parents. I see a lot of myself in my daughters, although it took me many years to gain the confidence to do some of the things they are doing at their young age.

Excited about what’s next

I’m so proud of both my daughters and I’m excited to see what lies ahead for them. They’re adults now, but I still worry about them every day as they find their way in this crazy world we live in. As parents, I don’t think we ever stop worrying about our kids no matter how old they get.

In the end, I just have to hope we’ve laid a solid foundation and set them up for success. Because that’s really all we can do for our kids. The rest is up to them.

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Three highlights of the week

Obviously, Colleen’s birthday was one of the highlights of this week. Keeping the trend of celebrating the big and small things in life, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:

• Last weekend was awesome. Laura came home and we went out for a wonderful dinner on Saturday to celebrate Mother’s Day, Colleen’s birthday and my husband’s birthday. It has been a few years since I’ve spent Mother’s Day with both girls.
• The trilliums are in bloom. Although it’s Ontario’s provincial flower, we only see trilliums for a week or two at this time of year. We enjoyed a nice walk on The Trillium Trail last weekend.
• Asparagus is in season, and we’ve been eating it every day. I made some cream of asparagus soup, and it was delicious! 

Three things I learned this week

Life is all about learning. Here are three things I learned this week:

Oil companies continue to realize record-breaking profits

In the face of the climate crisis, the world’s biggest oil companies are still raking in record-breaking profit—at the expense of the planet. So how big are the profits? In the first three months of the year, “big oil” made enough profit to pay for King Charles’ coronation 260 times, to end world hunger for one year, or to end U.S. homelessness for four years. (Source: Heated)  

And the planet gets hotter.

Roads made from plastic

And now for some good news…

MacRebur, a U.K. based company, is using non-recyclable plastic waste in their asphalt mix used to build roads. Each kilometre of road laid using their products uses up the equivalent weight of 740,541 one-time use plastic bags. And every tonne of MacRebur mix contains the equivalent of 80,000 plastic bottles. (Source: MacRebur)

Canadian doctors prescribe park visits

I’m a big believer in the physical and mental health benefits of getting outdoors in nature. This week, I was intrigued to learn of an initiative started by the BC Parks Foundation where physicians are specifically prescribing park time for their patients. The program has now expanded to every Canadian province. What a wonderful idea! (Source: Parkprescriptions.ca)

Sustainable living tip: Gifting experiences instead of things

Let’s continue this month’s gifting theme with a look at experience gifts.  

As I’ve adopted a simpler lifestyle, I’ve developed a preference for experience gifts over things that I may just end up decluttering one day. Experience gifts are a great option for those hard-to-buy-for individuals who just seem to have everything.

Check out this post for 12 ideas for experience gifts to suit anyone on your list. But like everything we consume, experiences do have an environmental impact. 6 ways to reduce the environmental cost of experiences has ideas for experiences that are kinder to the planet.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on surviving the teenage years or any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.