Count to Ten - or more if needed!

My first grade teacher Mrs. Rivers always used to say to me, David count to ten before you speak in anger or frustration. This was, and still is, very good advice for those of us who tend to respond in an emotional way to negative information. Especially when it comes to dealing with family members - My Teenagers, can really get my dander up and my heart pounding! Was I this way with my folks? I guess I was, I just can't remember.
As parents we often forget what it was like to be a teenager, in fact at times when I have yelled at my own kids for doing really inappropriate things, they look at me like, what's the big deal? Why are you getting all worked up? To them, it seems like nothing. So what is that? Do we really not get it? I think not. But to the immature teenagers who can't P.I.S.S. (Properly Interpret Social Situations) they wonder what the big deal is. They can't even comprehend where you are coming from. So then, how will my ranting and raving and yelling impact them? Certainly not in the way I would like for it to. I would like to get the apology and the statement, "you are right almighty dad and that will never happen again or I will give myself 40 lashes". In fact, they probably will just think; "there goes dad again, on one of his tirades". They just don't get it. We have to remember that because our young teenagers can't P.I.S.S., we must count to ten, or twenty, or thirty - OK for me, 100!
With all that we have been through with our kids, there is no more shock or surprise. No more disbelief that this thing or that thing could even happen - no, now we are just numb to these negative surprises. No more shock or awe, no more anger, no more shame. Just sadness and perhaps even some depression that this is our lot in life until such a time as our kids finally figure out how to P.I.S.S. - Once they finally grow up! I guess we are supposed to enjoy each stage of our kids lives, and don't get me wrong, in the whole big picture, this is just a small span of time. But I must be honest I hope this time called "Teenager" goes by very quickly - because one thing is for sure - I am not sure what might happen after 100 on some days..... Isn't life great!