Hello! How are you all doing? I hope your day is going great. It just hit me when I was getting out of my car this morning from dropping off the boys that today I officially become a parent of a teenager. Let’s all take a collective pause……….Nick is now 13 years old and I simply can’t believe it. I knew the day would come but wow, so fast. Some rethinking is in order.
I have this thing that I always do with “milestone” birthdays with the boys. On the day before their birthday, I pump them up with statements that remind them that this will be the last time they do “x” at their current age. So last night I told Nick, “This is the last time you will have tacos at age twelve the next time you have them you will be a teenager.” I also said, “Today you were 12 when I picked you up from school, tomorrow you will be a teen when you walk through those doors.” They respond so cute to my comments. I think they appreciate the spotlight on the big change.
But as I stepped out of my car this morning, I realized this is officially a new time in my life as well. First, I have to wrap my brain around the fact that I am a mother of a teenager. What??? Nope..ah ok, yes. It’s not like I am a spring chicken but in my mind I have young children. So I now have to accept these new phases as they come at me. I always laughed when my girlfriend talked about her nightmare stories of her teenage girls because it seemed so far away. I used to skip over articles about dealing with your teenager in magazines but now, I know I will slow down and give them a glance. This is a big day for us all as a family. I can’t believe it was thirteen years ago I had my first child. I remember everything. I remember the bed rest, nursing, first steps, snuggling, those teeny tiny fingers and that oh so cute baby laugh. Time truly moves swiftly and I am grateful for all those moments and the new ones to come.
I hope Nick has an amazing day and moves into this new chapter in life with joy and openness. I know we will go through challenging times but am happy we have a great family to move through this process with us. He is a quite an amazing son and I look forward to all the growth he will continue to experience. Even though I complain at times, I wouldn’t change a thing. Love that boy. I wrapped up some of his gifts this morning and a few have not arrived and a special surprise gift won’t arrive until the end of next week. But that’s all good.
Have a blessed day friends!