Celebrating becoming a teen?

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Spatulate

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Do you have any special things you do when your child turns 13? Do you give them a purity ring or necklace os somehow honor the transition from child to teen?
What sort of ‘rituals’ or traditions do you have, if any, to mark this event in the lives of your children?
Thanks!
Our son turns 13 in October…
 
I just turned 13 a few months ago, my family didn’t really do anything except stare in awe at how big i’ve gotten. They just can’t believe that im 13, they keep watching tape of when i was 2 and think that their “little boy”(:mad: ) has grown up. oh well, it’s great to be a teen(lol)

:blessyou:
Podo The hobbit
 
When I turned 13, my parents took me out to dinner and gave me a “purity ring”, wit a card explaining what it meant. It was pretty special.
For my 15th bday, we did the traditional Mexican celebration for girls becoming “young women”, a quincenera, which was lots of fun and a very special day. We (my cousin and I celebrated together, since we’re 15 days apart) had a Mass where we offered flowers to the Virgin de Guadalupe and created prayers offering our lives to her. Then we had a huge dance- hey no one can accuse Mexicans of missing an opportunity to party :dancing: !
 
Wow! I’m just thinking of it…my baby granddaughter is turning 13 in just a few months!:crying: Where did those years go?

This is giving me some ideas of how we might celebrate it …especially the 'Purity Ring" thing. Where can I get more info on this Pro-Life-Teen? Annunciata:)
 
My baby turned 13 on August 16th and although I didn’t give her a purity ring (which I think is a great idea), we did celebrate with cake and ice cream, candles, and went to eat out at her favorite restaurant. Even though she hasn’t fully matured, I do often have talks with her about sex, abstinence, birth control, abortion, etc. We have a program in the State of Louisiana where they teach abstinence which has been tremendously helpful. Good luck and God bless.
 
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puppylove:
Even though she hasn’t fully matured, I do often have talks with her about sex, abstinence, birth control, abortion, etc. .
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Hi Puppy,
I haven’t approached her w/ most of these things except for the evils of abortion. She attends a very good Catholic school and they deal w/ some on these issues. Her parents’ have spoken to her only minimally… so I don’t feel I have the right to say anymore than they have. She and I are very close…I never had a daughter and this young lady is so much like me it’s scary… (my son frequently says, “Mum you are always going to be haunting me”…). Anyway, I don’t want to hijack this Thread so I’ll stop. In Christ, Annunciata:)
p.s. I’m going to suggest that they do give her a Purity Ring though.
 
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Annunciata:
Hi Puppy,
I haven’t approached her w/ most of these things except for the evils of abortion. She attends a very good Catholic school and they deal w/ some on these issues. Her parents’ have spoken to her only minimally… so I don’t feel I have the right to say anymore than they have. She and I are very close…I never had a daughter and this young lady is so much like me it’s scary… (my son frequently says, “Mum you are always going to be haunting me”…). Anyway, I don’t want to hijack this Thread so I’ll stop. In Christ, Annunciata:)
p.s. I’m going to suggest that they do give her a Purity Ring though.
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Annunciata: My daughter is very close to my mother also. She is the splitting image of my mother in her youth. Its great when 3 generations can be so close like ours. My daughter has actually brought me closer to my mother. I think the Purity ring is a great idea and will purchase one really soon (when I find one). Any ideas? I wish this thread would have come around just a week ago!!!
 
A purity ring doesn’t have to be specifically made for that; my parents gave me a gold one with a heart lined with baby diamonds, and wrote a card to me explaining what it meant. You wear it on your left index finger as a sign/reminder. Some girls melt it down to go into their wedding ring, which I think is an excellent idea!
You can find out more at www.hh76.com or (this is a good one, you can buy jewlery here) lifeway.com/tlw/pdt_coolstuff.asp
 
*pro-life_teen*:
A purity ring doesn’t have to be specifically made for that; my parents gave me a gold one with a heart lined with baby diamonds, and wrote a card to me explaining what it meant. You wear it on your left index finger as a sign/reminder. Some girls melt it down to go into their wedding ring, which I think is an excellent idea!
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Thanks Pro-Lifeteen,
I saved both sites as favorites…Do you mind sharing what the card should say…any other ideas? Bless you, Annunciata:)
 
I appreciate the ideas, thanks!

I wonder what to get my son, though, since a purity ring may not work!
🙂
Thanks,
AM
 
Spatulate, a purity ring would work with your son too- my cousin has a “manly purity ring” that my aunt gave him, it’s a thick silver band with crosses etched in black. I’m positive they sell some guy rings on the previous websites that I mentioned. Anyway, as for the card, my parents wrote (paraphrased, I don’t have it right here) Here is a special ring to enter into your teen years, it can serve as a reminder to remain pure and chaste throughout your life.

I can’t remember what else it said, but I’m sure you can write about Our Blessed Mother’s commitment to purity and how she will always help you and protect you and that she is a model for women, and about purity and modesty being virtues and other stuff like that.

p.s. remember that chastity is more than waiting for marriage, and if you’re thinking semantic, abstinence implies giving something up (chastity sounds better, and it is more encompassing is what I’m trying to say!)
 
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Podo2004:
I just turned 13 a few months ago, my family didn’t really do anything except stare in awe at how big i’ve gotten. They just can’t believe that im 13, they keep watching tape of when i was 2 and think that their “little boy”(:mad: ) has grown up. oh well, it’s great to be a teen(lol)

:blessyou:
Podo The hobbit
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Hehe! I feel pretty much the same way as you do. Except the tape part… Though I don’t think being a teen is much different. Once I get older I’ll feel a bit more “great”😃
 
I don’t think a purity ring can be “given” without being asked for. It’s the type of thing that has to come from within.
 
*pro-life_teen*:
Anyway, as for the card, my parents wrote (paraphrased, I don’t have it right here) Here is a special ring to enter into your teen years, it can serve as a reminder to remain pure and chaste throughout your life.

I can’t remember what else it said, but I’m sure you can write about Our Blessed Mother’s commitment to purity and how she will always help you and protect you and that she is a model for women, and about purity and modesty being virtues and other stuff like that.

p.s. remember that chastity is more than waiting for marriage, and if you’re thinking semantic, abstinence implies giving something up (chastity sounds better, and it is more encompassing is what I’m trying to say!)
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Prolifeteen,
Thanks so much for info and further good advice about chastity per the above.
Love In Christ, Annunciata:)
 
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Podo2004:
I just turned 13 a few months ago, my family didn’t really do anything except stare in awe at how big i’ve gotten. They just can’t believe that im 13, they keep watching tape of when i was 2 and think that their “little boy”(:mad: ) has grown up. oh well, it’s great to be a teen(lol)

:blessyou:
Podo The hobbit
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LOL!!! This is where I met you!!! Way back…how many months ago???😃 😃 :rotfl:
 
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Timidity:
I don’t think a purity ring can be “given” without being asked for. It’s the type of thing that has to come from within.
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Actually, girls have traditionally been given coming-of-age ceremonies to impress upon them that they (and specifically their bodies) are worthy of great dignity. Girls were not given the same advantages as boys and of course had physical changes at puberty that could be quite confusing. The ceremonies impressed upon them that a chaste life was to be theirs not because their bodies were dirty or dangerous, but because they were monumentally special.

Boys, on the other hand, were given initiation ceremonies to impress upon them that the power they were coming into was not for their own aggrandizement… that they were stewards of that power, not the center of the universe themselves.

The main idea in both cases was to disabuse young people of common misconceptions they might have about themselves and where they fit in the grand scheme of things. Considering how much misinformation is out there on that front, a solemn recognition of the truth is not only an appropriate gift, but a very important one. The idea of a purity ring has real merit, particularly if the purity in question is not wholly a matter of avoiding inappropriate sex, but a matter of an adult commitment to a fully Christian life. (As opposed to a nominally Christian secular life.)
 
The year I turned 13 I read Plato’s dialogues for school.(My favorite book was The Republic.) It had such a profound effect on me I promised myself that when my younger cousins turned 13, I would pass the book on to them. None of my cousins are teenagers yet, but they are all very mature for their ages and I intend on keeping my promise. I’ll probably also give them a copy of Jason Evert’s “Pure Love” in the card or something.

I also know some people who made their daughter a scrap book of, well, her entire life, for her 13th birthday. There were photos and pictures she had drawn as a kid and certificates or awards she had won. The parents asked relatives to type up little memories they had of her and put those little blurbs in the scrapbook too. It was really nice for her to be able to look back at all her accomplishments and good memories as encouragement for the future.

Just my :twocents: …

~Irish
 
When our girls turned 13 I gave them a pretty box w/ light colored make up (blush, lip gloss, eye shadow) and feminine hygiene products 🙂 We also had lunch out (I think).

—KCT
 
I just wanted to add that I know lots of guys who have purity rings that were given to them by their parents. Its beautiful to see and I know it means alot to them. so its definitly not a “girl thing” just get a masculine ring.

One other thing, I think at the age of 13, it dosent necessiraliy have to come from “within” the young person, I would have loved if my parents had done something like that for me, (I am 17) and shown initative in caring so strongly about me and giving me that reminder of who I am and what I stand for, I definitly support the idea.
 
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