Georgie Porgie Madness

HELP! How do you balance being a personable, sincere leader of 200+ young women and a strict, protective, traditionally minded mother of a 17 year old boy, all at the same time. As a mother, "girls" have been "the enemy" since the last day of 5th grade, when a girl who was moving asked Jordan to close his eyes, then promptly kissed him and fled. They have remained the enemy, for me, through middle school. But now they are no longer faceless names; I know these girls, I'm involved in their lives. I can feel the lack or strength of their testimonies. I can see their frustrations with "16" not meeting expectations. And as a mother it has been an advantage. I have encouraged them, in safe settings, to build up these boys by giving them the opportunity to be men and take the lead. For the most part they try hard, but there are a few who, I think, have decided that "Jordan pursuing" is a full time job. In all fairness they are cute, fun, nice girls and have paid attention to Jordan for quite some time, without him caring ;-)(I can't say the same for me), but recently it's even starting to get to my very laid back, be-kind-to-everyone son. In the last two weeks he has received phone calls, visits, date offers, brownies, homemade chicken noodle soup (he had a cold), personalized music CD's, piano sheet music (so he could learn to play and sing it) and the list goes on. It has started to become a joke here, which is akin to talking behind some one's back and makes me feel two faced, but isn't there a point where enough is enough?

I have very vivid memories of baby chicks on the farm and the terror of having a mother hen come after you when she thought you were a danger. I tend to react much like a mother hen sometimes and I don't want to strike terror into any hearts. How do you kindly convince these Y.W. that disciplined restraint will pay off in the end. I guess I just keep enforcing strict guidelines, recognize that our female trait to nurture is propelling these actions, and grin and bear it. I'm sure my outlook will be tested with Mikayla in a few months when I have to deal with an entirely different problem as the mother of a 16 year old girl. We have put such emphasis on reaching this age that young women in general have built up grand "dillusions" of what it will bring, and self confidence hinges tightly on this one thing during high school. I won't be worrying about the tender feelings of her "suitors"-- boys deal well with straight talk from another mother; (another father is a whole different story) it will be her tender feelings that will be cause for concern. I hope she's been watching and learning. I hope I have.