The age of the teenager has arrived in my home

Posted in teenagers
by Lorain County Moms

By Dwana, Chicago Moms Blog

My cousin warned me 18 months ago, but to be honest, I thought she was losing her mind.

She intimated that her son, now 15, was “going through” something.

I gave her that look you give someone after you smell their feet!

This could not be something I need to consider because at that time my baby was only 13.

As the year moved into summer, I slowly began to see how she was right.

My heart bled, and my eyes teared each time he answered me with an inflection that was much deeper than the one before.

“Yes, Mom” grew into tones that James Earl Jones and Denzel deliver, not my beautiful, baby boy!

Then the inching up started.

My already tall child, slimmed and grew broad-chested with ALL this facial hair. His friends, (who are like my other sons) were also transforming and morphing into changelings. I began to feel trapped in a Friday Night horror flick.

The stuff of nightmares repeated until this year when I began to see that my son, my best friend, was no longer my “snuggle poo.”

When he looks at me, it is from a far off place. He grunts and eats, and needs new shoes.

He’s hungry, and says something that sounds like he needs new pants.

English has evaded him and is no longer his friend. He sounds monotoned and gruffy — Humph, hunger, and “more clothes” and “more shoes”!

The age of the teen has officially arrived in my home and a huge part of me is saddened. Please know that deep inside, I am proud of his accomplishments and impressed by the vigor he uses to greet life. He is an amazing person and I am so elated to be a part of that.

He is sports oriented, talented and maintains excellent grades. But gone is my little one. The one who ate chocolate Easter bunnies and had to have Granny make green eggs and ham.

Yep, all over in the blink of an eye, and so I am revving up for this new chapter in our lives. I am summoning strength from the higher world and being thankful and grateful for what and all that these episodes will bring. I anticipate more love and journeys and experiences along the way — and hope for the endurance to talk about them.

I suppose I will have to wait until I am a granny to see that loving, all-consuming look again, but I will take it because every day there will be something new. My child has given me joy without measure and so I will love every phase that life brings because I am here and I can.

This is an original post from the Chicago Moms Blog (http://www.chicagomomsblog.com).