Most of you may have a teenage son, or at least know a teenage boy. Maybe it's a nephew, grandson, or neighbor. You know the ones I'm talking about the tall almost manly ones who used to be little boys but now tower over one or both of their parents. Those odd hormonal creatures with mood swings as bad as any teenage girl you've ever run across. Those boys who could eat you out of house and home in a single day. Yes those teenage boys. It is those boys whom you love dearly that are probably going to cause you to exercise a great deal of patience over the next few years.
There will be days when they will make you laugh, or cry, or possibly both. Days you will scream really loudly or at least want to, and days you might seriously think about punching them if you didn't think you would hurt yourself doing so.
All I can say is that you had better hold on for the ride and be prepared to roll with the punches.
They will do things like: get curfew tickets for sleeping overnight in the park with some friends, light things on fire, sneak kids into their room late at night, leave their receipt for eggs in you car, skip school, and many other countless things.
Sometimes you will want to laugh, other times you will just shake your head in disbelief, sometimes you will just be grateful that nobody was seriously hurt, and hopefully you will remember some of the stupid, crazy stuff you did as a teenager and show PATIENCE toward them.
There will be other times when you might receive the call that nobody wants to hear. One telling you your son has been in a wreck, but everyone is okay. That one is a little bit harder. You will probably cry with relief just to know he is okay. Then you might get angry and yell a little bit. You will be super frustrated not only with him but with the situation (I mean he has only had his license for like 6 weeks). There will be consequences and punishments that will likely follow. But when it all is said and done you will show a great deal of PATIENCE and LOVE, you will probably even take him into the doctor to have his jaw looked at and remember that although the timing sucks accidents happen, and thank heavens you gave him an older car to start with not some fancy new one.
On another day, after ending a date with your husband, you might notice you have both missed several frantic phone calls from your son. There was an unexpected snow storm and while driving home from work he slid off the road and could we please come get him. Okay that's understandable 16 year old boy living in the desert with no experience in ice and snow, but of course the plot thickens. Wait? Your where? Why are you up there? And then when you get there you realize that it is more than just running off the road it is more like he jumped the curb and ruined your whole drive train system and your front bumper and your brand new car which you had let him drive that night is not un-drivable and is going to cost a lot of money to fix. Okay yes you are going to yell at him just a little bit, after of course making sure he is okay. Then when you get home you are probably going to go in your room and maybe throw a few things, yell into your pillow, and cry just a little bit. But then you are going to walk out of your room and show a great deal of PATIENCE. You are going to tell your son that yes there will probably be some expenses he will nee to help cover, but that you will work it out and get through this together, and that most importantly you still LOVE him after all the car is just a thing. That being said you will also let him know that he will not be driving the truck, the only vehicle he has left to wreck, anytime soon. Also the next day when you are driving him somewhere and he tells you to slow down because you are following to close you will probably let him know in the nicest tone possible through clenched teeth to never tell you how to drive again.
Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference, as maybe just maybe reciting it over and over to yourself might help on the bad days.
On those days remember that "this to shall pass" and one day they will turn out to be the great man you know they are destined to become in the meantime just be ready to exercise a great deal of PATIENCE along with an equal amount of LOVE.
There will be days when they will make you laugh, or cry, or possibly both. Days you will scream really loudly or at least want to, and days you might seriously think about punching them if you didn't think you would hurt yourself doing so.
All I can say is that you had better hold on for the ride and be prepared to roll with the punches.
They will do things like: get curfew tickets for sleeping overnight in the park with some friends, light things on fire, sneak kids into their room late at night, leave their receipt for eggs in you car, skip school, and many other countless things.
Sometimes you will want to laugh, other times you will just shake your head in disbelief, sometimes you will just be grateful that nobody was seriously hurt, and hopefully you will remember some of the stupid, crazy stuff you did as a teenager and show PATIENCE toward them.
There will be other times when you might receive the call that nobody wants to hear. One telling you your son has been in a wreck, but everyone is okay. That one is a little bit harder. You will probably cry with relief just to know he is okay. Then you might get angry and yell a little bit. You will be super frustrated not only with him but with the situation (I mean he has only had his license for like 6 weeks). There will be consequences and punishments that will likely follow. But when it all is said and done you will show a great deal of PATIENCE and LOVE, you will probably even take him into the doctor to have his jaw looked at and remember that although the timing sucks accidents happen, and thank heavens you gave him an older car to start with not some fancy new one.
On another day, after ending a date with your husband, you might notice you have both missed several frantic phone calls from your son. There was an unexpected snow storm and while driving home from work he slid off the road and could we please come get him. Okay that's understandable 16 year old boy living in the desert with no experience in ice and snow, but of course the plot thickens. Wait? Your where? Why are you up there? And then when you get there you realize that it is more than just running off the road it is more like he jumped the curb and ruined your whole drive train system and your front bumper and your brand new car which you had let him drive that night is not un-drivable and is going to cost a lot of money to fix. Okay yes you are going to yell at him just a little bit, after of course making sure he is okay. Then when you get home you are probably going to go in your room and maybe throw a few things, yell into your pillow, and cry just a little bit. But then you are going to walk out of your room and show a great deal of PATIENCE. You are going to tell your son that yes there will probably be some expenses he will nee to help cover, but that you will work it out and get through this together, and that most importantly you still LOVE him after all the car is just a thing. That being said you will also let him know that he will not be driving the truck, the only vehicle he has left to wreck, anytime soon. Also the next day when you are driving him somewhere and he tells you to slow down because you are following to close you will probably let him know in the nicest tone possible through clenched teeth to never tell you how to drive again.
Then you might want to take a serious look into some meditation exercises or possibly yoga because you are going to need something to help you survive the next couple of years. You might also want to memorize the serenity prayer God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
On those days remember that "this to shall pass" and one day they will turn out to be the great man you know they are destined to become in the meantime just be ready to exercise a great deal of PATIENCE along with an equal amount of LOVE.
2 comments:
You are an excellent writer, Tia!
Also easy to relate to your story if you've raised a teenage boy or three.
Nailed it!
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