My son has grown exponentially in the last few months, certainly physically, standing at almost six foot two, but also in his outlook and maturity to a certain extent. We see glimpses of a mature young man, sprinkled with plenty of episodes of “d’oh, he’s still a kid” moments.
Case in point – within a 24 hour period he managed to misplace two items that are critical to most teenagers. One, a charger for his iPhone and two, his biology binder in which he had all of his notes for the year. We have come to the conclusion that microchipping his possessions might be worth considering.
“Mom, have you seen my charger?” I found it in the backseat of my car where he had been sitting the night before.
“Oh man, Mom have you seen my biology notebook?! I swear I brought it home on Friday right after school, 150% positive” – as he turned his room, the dining room, the kitchen and the family room, upside down. Sunday night at 7 PM, the night before his biology test. “I can’t believe this, they are all my notes, everything from the beginning, this is sooooo bad. I took it out of my backpack because it didn’t fit, but I was holding it on its own so I know I brought it home! Oh My Gawddd!”
I calmly helped him look over everything he had overturned, asking him to take a look again himself. “Are you absolutely sure you brought it home? I don’t remember you coming straight home after school…”
“Yeah, I did, I’m positive. I did go to KFC, I went to the washroom and washed my hands…” I could see the gears going in his mind. “Maybe I left it at KFC!”
I suggested he call them. I overheard him on the phone, confirming the color of his book and his name. He calmly got off the phone and gave me a calm smile.
“They have it. I am so lucky. I am so skilled, tracing my steps backwards. Can we go get it now?”
“Yes I will drive you and you are lucky – that I am driving you. If I weren’t so relieved that you found it I would smack you”. He flashed me his smile again.
So I drove him to KFC. I watched as he came out of the restaurant, held up his binder and took a selfie at KFC. For snapchat of course.
“It totally wasn’t luck mom, it was skill. I back tracked and figured it out CSI style. Ha!”
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I took him to his third dental appointment within a week today, to get fitted for a bite guard now that his TMJ has become almost debilitating. Poor boy’s jaw is almost always bruised. Turns out his jaw is also growing unevenly, and his wisdom teeth are coming in earlier than expected. Life is stressful for him with a tough course load, especially math continuing to be the bane of his existence. Don’t get me started on the state of the math education here these days.
After getting his molds done, he asked if we could check out the new H &M that just opened down the hall from the dental office. He found a pair of pants and shirt that he assures me he will wear, because as noted, he continues to grow. He told me he loves shopping with me, not just because I’m paying, but because I’m a good shopper and he likes my opinion. As much or more than his friends! We talked about him getting a part time job, his plans to get experience, working on a resume – more adult topics.
“Mom, when I’m rich and working I will take you shopping – I promise.” Sounds like a similar promise he made when he was around five year old. I could almost imagine his voice at five saying those same words. It touched my heart.
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My husband and I sometimes look at pictures of our boy when he was little, and say that we miss those days. But in the short time that I’ve been at home again, I’ve come to realize that this teenage stage is also to be treasured. And how lucky am I right now to be able to enjoy all this in realtime.
At a time 