MJ Vieweg | RealiTeen

Tia Bandavanis

My name is Tia and I'm very excited to join the Realteen team. I am a fun-loving, caring, and colorful person. I begin and end everyday with a smile. There is only one man in my life and that is my 15 yr. old son John. It's been my job to raise my son from a young age through his teen years. I am a single mom and I feel as though I have done my best to help my son become a responsible young man. I was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in the Maryland and D.C. area. I moved to Jacksonville, North Carolina in 1992. I now consider myself to be a native. I miss family dearly but find ways to visit often. My home and heart is here in Onslow County. This is pretty much due to the fact that I have raised my son here and found it to be a great place to live. I currently teach preschool at a local preschool. I have been teaching for over 20 years. I love children of all ages and could not imagine myself doing any other profession. I enjoy outings with my son to the movies, watching football, visiting local spots such as the Lynwood Park Zoo, going to the beach, and canoeing along our local rivers. I look forward to writing and reading the blogs. I feel this is a great opportunity to explore my parenting role and others. Parenting my teen son has been very rewarding and challenging. However, I have learned that being an effective parent is about learning and growing along with my son!

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I’m MJ Vieweg, one of the original MomTalk Bloggers. Other than a 6-month hiatus, I have been sharing my thoughts on the trials and joys (yes, there are some) of raising teenagers for over two years. I have two teen sons; Max who is nearly 14 and Gus, who is 16. Max is still with me at home, Gus got a chance to fly the coop early and is finishing his high school years at the North Carolina School of Math and Science in Durham. Like any mom, I’d like to have a good relationship with my sons. In addition, I try to parent with a purpose - I want to raise confident, optimistic, and resilient kids. Maybe not so easy to do for a single parent, and not something you can assume will happen even when you think you are doing your best, but certainly worth striving for. Much of what I share on this blog are my experiences trying to secure that good relationship with my boys and encouraging those three traits in them. I believe whole-heartedly in this quote attributed to Jackie Onassis: "If you bungle raising your children, nothing else in life you do really matters." Stop by often, read my posts and share your thoughts!

Major Declaration

February 18th, 2012 MJ Vieweg

What determines success - character or test scores?

Lately, Gus has been thinking about what he might like to study in college. He mentioned Electrical Engineering to me the other day, this potential field of study occurred to …
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Running To The Max

February 15th, 2012 MJ Vieweg

Having eliminated the threat of zombie world domination, Max may be trying out for track!

Recently my son Max shared with me that he thinks he may just go out for track this spring. I hope he does. …
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Fundraising Tactics

February 13th, 2012 MJ Vieweg

Bring back the bake sale!

Max has the “opportunity” to raise money for an upcoming school trip. I attended what I thought was going to be a general informational meeting about the trip, wondering all the while …
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Paperless Society?

February 9th, 2012 MJ Vieweg

Can you relate to this woman? I know I can!

There used to be lots of talk about becoming a paperless society, remember? With online banking and bill paying, the ability to fill out forms online, and even …
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Up Next: High School

February 7th, 2012 MJ Vieweg

High school is a big change for some teens.

Lately, Max has been reminding me that he will be in high school next fall. I am surprised he is bringing it up so often. Maybe he is not …
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