Teenagers - "EPIC" times!

Mother Nature is providential. She gives us twelve years to develop a love for our children before turning them into teenagers. ~William Galvin

The other night my son walked into my room to ask a question.  I had just finished shedding a few tears due to the grown up pressures of finances and relationships.  I got myself all worked up about future events as if they were going to manifest itself at that very moment.  It was a bleak vision created from my own neurosis.

I watched my six-foot, sixteen year-old son gait towards me. I offered my best smile and used the pillow to wipe my face.  He had raised his left eye-brow at that point.

Mom, sooo since I finished my homework can I use the computer? 

 ~ Of course.

What's wrong? He approached the side of my bed. Do you need a hug? You know I'm sixteen, right? So you can tell me, Mom. 

~ Aww, hun.  Its adult stuff that's all.  I'm okay.  I'd like the hug tho'. 

My son wore a lanyard around his neck that was connected to his thumb drive. His hand twirled his thumb drive for a few revolutions. He expressed a look that I've not seen before. He said that he wasn't going to force me to tell him anything. But that I should know, sometimes its good to talk about things.  He then bent over and wrapped his long arms around me in his own bear-hug style. 

~ Luv you, baby.  Now off you go. 

I watched him leave.  That was when my daughter appeared.

Motheeeeer!  She plopped herself next to me and laid down.  She asked if I could rub her head because it hurt. She was already positioning herself next to me so that I could massage the top of her head.

~ Of course.

My thoughts of my teenagers; Sometimes their emotional negotiations over homework, playing Wii, and doing their chores can be totally annoying.  Yet there is an understanding that when you are a teenager, the world is intoxicating. New beliefs and values occur.  New emotions drive whether or not to hang with the friends or the fam (pending which is cooler at that time).  Prospects of relationships, getting a first job, saving money, college, and life in general begin to form thought bubbles over their heads.

As a Mom, my teens remind me when I was their age.

OH I remember how I acted and the stunts that I pulled.

......................Holy SHIT...........................                         

I was a freaking terror wearing a lopsided halo! My teenager days meant I could gain full autonomy away from my parents. Thus my actions were absolutely justified.  In retrospect, it was a trial run at being an adult before officially becoming one.

Now that I am watching my teens develop their own sense of style and morals, I have to say - I love this stage in their lives. They have started to give me a glimpse into their maturity.  I can't wait to see how incredible they will be as adults.  And this, is why being a mother is so freaking "epic".