…my son just turned 13. I am the mother of a teenager! This is a big milestone for him, but for us as parents, too. We are now the parents of a teenager.
Granted, he’s seemed very teenager-ish for the last few months already. His voice is deep, he’s taller than me, and he wears the same clothing size as his father now, even if he isn’t quite as tall as his dad.
But my goodness–I’m the mother of a teenager!
Because of Covid, we couldn’t have a little family party like we normally do, but my mom and dad did drop off a homemade birthday cake. And it was delicious! Of course, there were presents, and we made a big deal about his special day.
It’s funny–when these milestones come along, the parents have a fair amount of adjusting to do, too. Where we live, a kid can get his learner’s licence at 14 and he can get a job, too, so we’ve got exactly one year until this kid is on the road and hopefully has a part time job, to boot.
And then there’s all the other teenaged stuff he’ll be doing as he gets older–girlfriends, high school. Can’t I slow this down?
You know what else I did this last week? I painted over this doodle he did when he was a toddler.
He was about three, and he was in this drawing on the wall phase that drove me nuts. Anyway, I asked him what he’d drawn and if I remember correctly, this is supposed to be a dog, even though it looks like a perfect duck. I couldn’t bring myself to scrub it off the wall, and so I’d kept it, until last weekend, that is. I finally let Mr. Johns paint over it.
It feels like yesterday he was a little guy who used to crawl into my lap for a cuddle, and now, he’s this great big kid who teases me by refusing to bend down so I can hug him.
So there you have it–I’m going through this whole identity crisis over here, realizing that my one and only child is growing up. But mostly, I’m so proud of him. He’s a really good kid with a big heart and a stubborn streak that might drive me up the wall, but will serve him well in adulthood.
He’s perfectly wonderful.
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And while we’re here, don’t forget about my newest release! It’s on the shelves now!
