GPP: What advantages do you feel this season of life brings to parenting teens?
Christin: The advantages I feel this season of life brings to parenting teens are simply watching my kids become such great people. I love to learn how their minds work and what they value, and how much they are learning about the world.
As a family, we are believers in Jesus, as each of my children has committed their lives to the Lord. My favorite part of our week is the evenings we sit down and do what we call our “Bible time”. I value slow evenings, so we tend to spend a lot of our weeknights at home.
GPP: What do you appreciate more now that you might have rushed past when you were younger?
Christin: I appreciate slower evenings and family time. When they were younger, it just sometimes felt like survival mode, with little sleep. I’m naturally a night owl and struggled for years with staying up too late and not having enough energy. I wish that I had learned how important it was for me to take care of myself and get the sleep I needed when I needed it.
I now prioritize waking up early to spend time in God’s word. I started this five years ago, and it has been the greatest blessing in my life.
GPP: What’s one myth about raising young adults and teens you’ve learned isn’t true?
Christin: One myth I think I have learned isn’t necessarily true is that teenagers can be mean and hateful to their parents. So far, I haven’t really experienced this with my kids. Do they have attitudes at times, of course. Are they always happy with what we decide and the rules we put in place? Of course not. But I can honestly say that they have not been hateful or downright rude or disrespectful to us about things.
I think I just really made that clear from a very young age that although they are welcome to express their feelings about things, they will not do it in a disrespectful manner if they want to be heard.
GPP: How do you manage your energy, patience, and emotions in this season?
Christin: The way I manage my energy, patience, and emotions is honestly first and foremost…prayer. I write down my prayers every morning, and I pray often throughout the day.
My husband is also very good at encouraging me to take time for myself. If he can see that I’m getting overwhelmed with life or just needing a break, he is very good and always has been at just telling me to take a day and just go do my own thing.
I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia when I was 23 years old, and the thing I have learned that has helped me the most is to get really good sleep, to keep moving as much as I can, and to just slow down and stop when my body tells me I’ve had enough. Learning to take care of myself has been a process and still is.
GPP: What have you and your spouse learned about teamwork while parenting several ages at one time?
Christin: Allan and I came from two very different family backgrounds and were raised in very different family dynamics. Learning to listen to one another and respect each other’s style of parenting has been work, and is still a work in progress.
Allan loves to serve others and does such an incredible job of finding ways to make my day easier, even though he has such a highly demanding and stressful job. We have learned to tell one another what we need and what we value. This is a daily thing we work on.
After 18 years of marriage, I can truly say we are still best friends and that I believe is the foundation of how we have made it through some really tough years. Laughing together is probably the best thing. If we can keep each other laughing at ourselves, we tend to work together better.
GPP: How do you prioritize your marriage while still being present for your kids?
Christin: Prioritizing our marriage when we have as many kids as we do has been a learning process. We are getting better at it, and still have a long way to go. Since our kids are now older, we are able to get out and go places together, which has been so helpful. Even just getting out and running a few errands together without the kids or going out to dinner a couple times a month has been great. Sometimes, even just telling our kids we need to talk to one another without interruption is helpful.
Prioritizing each other, even over the kids, has been the thing that has been most beneficial to the health of our family. I probably, as a mom, struggle with this the most, but I’m so thankful my husband has been so patient with me in this area and has been so understanding with my struggle.
Rapid Fire:
- Superpower you would love to have? Probably the ability to fly.
- Date night out or in? I prefer date night out.
- Pizza or Tacos? Tacos!
- High heels or sandals? Sandals
- Long walk or nap? I love to go on a long walk!
Christin Timmons loves Jesus, is a Christ follower, and credits God for every single source of joy found in her life. She has been married to her husband, Allan, for 18 years. He is an Army Disabled Veteran and a State Trooper. Christin stays home to manage the household and their four children — Raegan (20), Aiden (17), Kaysen (13), and Ashten (11). The family is very involved in their church and maintains a slower-paced calendar of extracurricular activities.
