where wildly different is perfectly normal
Fifteen
Fifteen

Fifteen

So my baby is 15 today.

The boy who made me a mom, who dragged me into the life of giftedness and advocacy and writing, the boy who made Calvin a real life child in my life…is 15.

And, of course, he’s still sleeping.

He’s become an amazing teen. I enjoy him more now than ever. We joke with each other, we can have great conversations, his brain and his personality is exploding. He is more comfortable in his skin now, and when he loses his shit he collects it more quickly. I still worry-panic about him, but it’s less about what is wrong with him (and/or how to “fix it”) and more about if I’m doing enough to prepare him for college and real life.

Technically he’s now old enough to take Driver’s Ed and get a permit and be allowed to get behind the wheel of a very large motorized vehicle and take it on the road while I’m clutching the dashboard and hyperventilating next to him. By mutual agreement, we’ve decided he’s not quite ready. Or, as he put it, “I have a hard time focusing on homework alone in a quiet room, I don’t think I can concentrate on everything needed to drive.” And so we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief, and my auto insurance drops back down from Klaxon Horn Red Alert.

The kid is an epic troll. I left him to work on a writing project on my computer (fewer distractions), and returned to find my desktop photo changed to the slothstronaut. 6aRkCQbU_400x400Mmhm. I got him back with creepy baby photos wishing him a happy birthday. He’ll find them hidden all around the house today…in his coat, in shoes, in the frozen waffles, in the dishwasher… Don’t mess with mom, she plays to win.ANDY BIRTHDAY Life is good.

He’ll only be living with us for a few more years, which is hard to believe. He was a very difficult baby/toddler/preschooler/kid/tween, and so I fantasized about him going off to college at an early age. I don’t regret those fantasies, they got me through many a witching hour, but now that is almost on the horizon. Three years, maybe four or five, and then he’ll be off to put his dent in the universe. Well, more dents, he’s already put a few dings into it. It’ll be wonderful to watch, and I’m privileged to have a front row seat.

Happy birthday, Andy. Go kick ass and take names.

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4/15/16 Edited to add: He was finding those pictures around the house ALL DAY LONG. I haven’t laughed so hard in ages. I out-trolled the teenage troll…and now I wait for the inevitable revengence backlash. Totally worth it.

6 Comments

  1. I’m still in the ‘OMG will my 2e 11year-old ever get it together to pass an exam and get to uni or will he be living with us forever?” so I loved reading this. There is hope!!(?) Love the trolling. 😉

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