I dreaded my teens dating, but it's brought me closer to them. They talk to me about everything — I've even helped draft break-up texts.

Courtesy Terri Peters

When I was a new mom, it seemed like every well-meaning stranger in a grocery checkout line would turn to me and remind me to enjoy the infant and toddler days because they'd go "so fast." Their warnings terrified me, and I wondered what life would be like when my babies were teenagers. Would they still need me? Would we get along? And what would the dating years be like for me as a parent?