Well… the teenage years are underway. Oh. My. Gosh.
He and Stephen and the guys returned from their camping weekend that concluded his year of “becoming a man” and I’m telling you… something is different. I can’t put my finger on it… but he looks different, he acts different… he smells different…
One one hand… I LOVE this! It’s fun and new and exciting and crazy and different and he is funny and he gets things and we can talk and I so heart seeing glimpses of the man he is becoming.
On the other hand…
He was pushing the boundaries; trying to see how far I would go. I think in some small way he just might take some delight in seeing smoke emerge from my ears and my forehead crinkle up and my voice crack as I shout nonsense in anger and frustration over our absurd interaction. Sometimes he talks and I can’t make any sense of it. Who is he? Where did all this emotion bust forth from? And who in his right mind would speak to his mother like that (Sorry mom.)! I’d turn him over for a spanking… but those days are long gone… he’s nearly taller than I am. So… I shook my finger at him and said in my stern – I am so fed up – voice “you are acting like a little (beep).” And as he looked right into my eyes he said “I am not acting like a little (beep).” And I shook my finger again saying “don’t you e.v.e.r. say that word again.” “But you did.” “I’m a thirty-four year old woman!” And as the words flung out of my face the irony of my ridiculous display captured me.
I choke in the bathroom on the hovering fumes of body spray, he has hair on his chin, I don’t understand half of why he cares about the things he cares about or why he disregards others… Oh how graceful the Lord to give us a good ten years to fall deeply in love with them before awkward and unreasonable become common descriptions.
This is just the first of seven… Lord help me. I know that there are so many ways I get to love him, and encourage him, and come along side him as he discovers who he is and as the Lord directs his steps to becoming the man he is called to be…
I also know that there is so much unknown as I wander into this new stage of our lives and that I’ll be relying much on the Spirit to get me through it.
Thank you for this bit of encouragement as I stumble ahead… What a Teenage Boy Needs Most from his Mom
Definitely “brings me to my knees” Wendy. I know I have to reign in my emotions as I attempt to help them navigate through theirs.Joan, I remember you and another friend telling me that often it was the middle of the night when teens would open up and be willing to talk… I was hoping a season of sleep would come when I was finished having newborns… I guess not. 🙂
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My years of parenting teenagers took more time than any of the previous years! I had to quit working so I could be available–any time day or night!
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I hear you sister! Sometimes it feels like just as the weariness of needy littles was so physically exhausting and challenging, the emotional weariness of navigating this time of maturity and growth is, well…harder. I know it isn't, it's just different. Sure brings you to your knees though! 🙂
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