I thought I'd write about being a parent to teenagers - most of the reviews seem to be about small children. Now of course my children were once babies, toddlers and small children but now they are 17 and 19 and the old adage that its easier when they are older is definatley not true.!!

I was 30 when I had my son and 32 when I had my daughter and I was classed as an "old" mum !!! I was lucky in that both of mine slept well at night from an early age which meant that I got a reasonable nights sleep. However, getting them to sleep could sometimes be problematic. What has this got to do with having teenagers you may think - well - the sleep problems don't disappear as they get older.

I tend to go bed early - I need my sleep because my husband gets up at 5.30 to go to work - and therein lies the problem. Do I leave my teenagers up when I go to bed and hope that they turn everything off properly and leave the house as I would want it left - or do I stay up till they go to bed - or do I make them go to bed when I do?

Well the answer isn't easy. When they were just into their teens they still had set bed times as they had school the next day - no arguements - off you go and a reasonable nights sleep all round. Once they hit the 6th Form things changed and those broken nights sleep returned.

Firstly they passed their driving tests - now you worry about where they are in the car - is it icy, have they arrived, when will they be home? So you don;t go to bed until they have returned home safely nad if you do you strain to hear the car pulling up in the drive.

Secondly - they are bigger than me - my son is 6ft 5ins - and you can't make them do anything! So I leave them to it and lie and listen until I hear them come up to bed. Of course getting them up int he morning is another story completely.

They have minds of their own and it is only right that they decide on their bedtimes - after all they have to when they go off to Univeristy or College - however it doesn't help my sleep patterns at all. I can remember my parents waiting up for me or going to bed but still be reading when I rolled in at 2.30am and I thought that they were over protective, now I find myself doing the self same thing!

You never stop worrying about your children, no matter what age they are and they still keep you awake whatever their age. At least when mine were small I would nap in the day if they were having a nap - that isn't a luxury anymore as I work.

So don't be too disheartened about lack of sleep - it gets better for a while and then it rears its ugly head again! - Of course by this time you are probably having to get up in the night anyway because of your age !!