Conquering Chaos by Catelynn Lowell, Tyler Baltierra Page A
Authors: Catelynn Lowell, Tyler Baltierra
Ads: Link
What mistakes do we avoid? How did these problems get the best of the people we see
around us? It’s crazy to hear some of the things our parents went through before they
had us, and what even our grandparents went through. We see all this damage caused
to aunts and uncles and cousins and it always traces back to another parent with a
drinking or drug problem. And looking at the ones who got out and did better, you
don’t see the drugs and alcohol taking up a big part of their lives.
We always had that in mind. We thought about our limits and we always told ourselves
not to go too far. There was a hint of maturity there, even in the bad kid days, that
came from seeing all that destruction and wanting to move far away from it.
We just wanted something different than what we had. And lucky for us, we had a few
people in our lives who’d made the same decision. We each had somebody pushing us
to do things with our lives, either a parent or a grandparent, to counteract the bad
examples we were getting. Maybe that was all we needed to boost whatever in us that
made us think, “We’re not going to be like that. Not like them. We’re gonna be different.”
Still, obviously we weren’t perfect. It would have been better not to mess around
with air duster and snort cocaine in middle school. No doubt about that. And we can
never be certain how long that phase would have lasted, if it wasn’t for one little
thing. Once that pregnancy test came back positive, there was no more room for drugs
and alcohol in our lives. We dropped that stuff and didn’t even have time to look
back.
CHAPTER 4:
----
FROM TEEN SEX TO TEEN PREGNANCY
Sooner or later everyone probably experiences an event so important and meaningful
that they start to look at their life in terms of before and after. So far everything
you’ve read in this book took place in our “before,” back when we were just another
couple of poor Michigan kids stumbling (and huffing) our way through teenagerdom.
Sure, we had a sense of wanting to grow up and become something more, but we hadn’t
really figured out how yet. Neither of us had any real plans for life except for whatever
we were doing on any given day. There wasn’t any meaning yet.
Back then, we were pretty reckless: about drugs, about getting into fights, about
stealing. And guess what? We were kind of reckless about sex, too. We didn’t mean
to be. We sort of thought we knew what we were doing, to be honest. And that was probably
half the problem.
Your first experiences with sex are huge, and they can have some serious effects on
you. As kids grow up and take in more and more information about sex from the world
around them, they start to develop their own outlooks, identities, and values. Some
kids are more curious than others about sex, and some are so curious it’s downright
disturbing. Others don’t seem to be interested at all, or have ideas what’s appropriate
and what’s not. And, as much as people hate to talk about it, a lot of kids have learned
way too much, way too soon.
We got together with totally different outlooks and backgrounds as far as sex was
concerned. But we both ended up on the same wild ride. Our decision to have sex —
and the way we handled it — brought about a consequence that changed our lives forever.
In a way, sex and pregnancy are what created “before” and “after.”
Tyler:
Catelynn and I got together by holding hands, but for months and months that was pretty
much as far as it went. She was a virgin and had no interest in rushing into sex.
I was the complete opposite, and that wasn’t a good thing. I had actually been dating
girls since grade school, and I’d broken up with them for not wanting to fool around.
In the fourth grade, I got suspended for pushing a girl against a locker and trying
to kiss her. Looking back on it, it’s horrifying. Why was I such a hypersexual kid?
around us? It’s crazy to hear some of the things our parents went through before they
had us, and what even our grandparents went through. We see all this damage caused
to aunts and uncles and cousins and it always traces back to another parent with a
drinking or drug problem. And looking at the ones who got out and did better, you
don’t see the drugs and alcohol taking up a big part of their lives.
We always had that in mind. We thought about our limits and we always told ourselves
not to go too far. There was a hint of maturity there, even in the bad kid days, that
came from seeing all that destruction and wanting to move far away from it.
We just wanted something different than what we had. And lucky for us, we had a few
people in our lives who’d made the same decision. We each had somebody pushing us
to do things with our lives, either a parent or a grandparent, to counteract the bad
examples we were getting. Maybe that was all we needed to boost whatever in us that
made us think, “We’re not going to be like that. Not like them. We’re gonna be different.”
Still, obviously we weren’t perfect. It would have been better not to mess around
with air duster and snort cocaine in middle school. No doubt about that. And we can
never be certain how long that phase would have lasted, if it wasn’t for one little
thing. Once that pregnancy test came back positive, there was no more room for drugs
and alcohol in our lives. We dropped that stuff and didn’t even have time to look
back.
CHAPTER 4:
----
FROM TEEN SEX TO TEEN PREGNANCY
Sooner or later everyone probably experiences an event so important and meaningful
that they start to look at their life in terms of before and after. So far everything
you’ve read in this book took place in our “before,” back when we were just another
couple of poor Michigan kids stumbling (and huffing) our way through teenagerdom.
Sure, we had a sense of wanting to grow up and become something more, but we hadn’t
really figured out how yet. Neither of us had any real plans for life except for whatever
we were doing on any given day. There wasn’t any meaning yet.
Back then, we were pretty reckless: about drugs, about getting into fights, about
stealing. And guess what? We were kind of reckless about sex, too. We didn’t mean
to be. We sort of thought we knew what we were doing, to be honest. And that was probably
half the problem.
Your first experiences with sex are huge, and they can have some serious effects on
you. As kids grow up and take in more and more information about sex from the world
around them, they start to develop their own outlooks, identities, and values. Some
kids are more curious than others about sex, and some are so curious it’s downright
disturbing. Others don’t seem to be interested at all, or have ideas what’s appropriate
and what’s not. And, as much as people hate to talk about it, a lot of kids have learned
way too much, way too soon.
We got together with totally different outlooks and backgrounds as far as sex was
concerned. But we both ended up on the same wild ride. Our decision to have sex —
and the way we handled it — brought about a consequence that changed our lives forever.
In a way, sex and pregnancy are what created “before” and “after.”
Tyler:
Catelynn and I got together by holding hands, but for months and months that was pretty
much as far as it went. She was a virgin and had no interest in rushing into sex.
I was the complete opposite, and that wasn’t a good thing. I had actually been dating
girls since grade school, and I’d broken up with them for not wanting to fool around.
In the fourth grade, I got suspended for pushing a girl against a locker and trying
to kiss her. Looking back on it, it’s horrifying. Why was I such a hypersexual kid?