1. "On time" is a relative term. For example, being on time for school is important to you as a parent, not so much for your teenager. However, being on time to pick up your teen is vitally important at all times.

2. Sarcasm is not amusing to a teenager unless of course it is aimed at a sibling. Then it is hilarious.

3. Fashion is not in the eye of the beholder, it is in the eye of the teenager. A parent can walk straight off the runway in Milan and still be un-cool. Whatever the teenager is wearing at the moment? That is cool.

4. No matter how well you did on your own SATs or in college or even in life, you will never be as smart as your teenager. They know everything.

5. Family meal time means two different things depending on who uses the term. To a parent, it means we eat together and share our day together as a family. To a teenager, it means that the meal is ready for everyone at the same time to eat whenever and where ever they happen to be.

6. A clean house is only important if the teenager is having friends over. If the parents are having company or just want the house to look nice, it is not that important.

7. Saving money does not mean saving for important things like bills or food. For a teenager it means saving money so they can have _____(Fill in the blank).

8. Texting is a vital means of communication -- unless your mother is texting you. That is never cool. (Unless you are asking them about food or picking them up from wherever. Those texts are always important, yet still not cool.)

9. Speaking of cool, you are not. If you are a parent, give it up. You can try. You could be the coolest person among every adult you know, but to your teen, you are never cool. (Unless you saved enough money to buy them the item coveted in #7. Then you are cool for a second. Enjoy that moment -- it won't last.)

10. Remember that no matter how much you think you know about your teenagers, they can change at a moment's notice. The most important random thing to remember: You can never really know all there is to know about teens.

Now, don't be discouraged by this. If you think back to your teen years, I am sure you can relate to many of these truths. The beauty of it is they will outgrow all this and one day a miracle happens: parents suddenly become cool and smart, and maybe, just maybe they will listen to you....

I am still waiting for that to happen, but I know it will. My parents have become more and more brilliant the older I have become.

Love you back XOXO
~Tara