Great afternoon with Sprat. . .

Spent the day with my oldest yesterday.  I had a dentist appointment and that got us started.  After the dentist, it is off to the MALL, yes I said it MALL.  The mall and a teenage boy don't usually go together well.  We were looking for a bathing suit for our beach trip.  They were having a pretty good sale so we picked up some shorts and shirts too.  Did not find a bathing suit.  All of the suits had a velcro fly and Sprat just did not like that.   We looked at shoes but the sale was not that good.   After the mall it was off to grab a quick bite to eat and then to the barber.  Sprat got his hair all fixed up for the rest of the Summer.  Then it was home, boy was I beat.  It is exhausting picking out clothes for a teenage boy.  It was a good day.  It was so nice to spend it with my son, he is growing in to such a handsome young man inside and out.  You really don't know your kids until you see them interact with other adults in everyday activities.   I am thankful to the good Lord above for these little glimpses in to the person he is molding my son to be.  Blessed.

Good talk with my oldest. . .

Sprat is 13 and will be in 8th grade next year.  Yikes!!!  Only one year left in middle school.  They do grow up so fast.  Night before last we had a great talk just sitting in the dark, because we were both to lazy to get up and turn on a light.  We talked about school starting and how he will be in high school in another year.  We talked about scary movies and I told him some funny stories about his dad and I when we were first married.  Sprat does not usually want to talk about stuff, he is pretty closed mouthed when it comes to his life.  I have to capitalize on the time I have with him because I feel like that quality convo time is slipping away.  Soon his dad and I will be an embarrassment to him and he won't want to have anything to do with us.
We sat in the dark on the couch and talked for a good hour or so.  My hope is, that should something serious come up, that he will feel comfortable coming to one of us to talk about it.   We talked about people and how some people are pretenders.  Like some people are pretending to be something they are not.  I told him I want him to be the best "him" he can be.   I am so afraid he will get mixed up with the wrong crowd.  There are so many wrong crowds out there these days for kids to fall into.  We talked about how you have to be careful who you hang around with because you could be lumped in to whatever they are doing.  I used the example of vandalism.  There are some kids in our neighborhood that like to be out at all hours of the day and night and do things that they know they are not supposed to do.  I told Sprat if he is seen with them he could be accused of doing some of those very things even though he was not out with them.  My mother always called this "birds of a feather flock together."   It took me 22 years to realize my parents were always right, I hope it does not take as long for my kids.  That does not mean I did not listen to them but, I just was more skeptical about what they said.  My parents saved me from many a heart ache by giving me good advice.

Attitudes toward Women. . .

I am not an over the top women's liber but I do believe that we contribute more than our part to society and get little if any credit for the hard work that we do.   My husband is not one of those, thank goodness.  I was quite upset the other night sitting at a baseball game when I heard a "man" yell that these boys shouldn't listen to their mothers.  It just so happened that one of our kids was stealing home with everyone yelling run, run and he was tagged out.  We all thought he would make it.  That is when the comment was made.  The "man" also said, "what do they know about baseball anyway."  Well, that flew all over me.  I pride myself on knowing a little something about all the sports that my kids play.  I even went to the Wake Forest Women's Football camp several years in a row so that I could better understand football.  Yes, we had contact too, I learned how to tackle and block.  So you can see how that "man's" comment would really irritate me.  To make it even worse he is one of our parents.  Now, how bad is that, that this nit wit would rag the parents of his own team.  I have thought several times that I would say something to him but, I have not.  I do believe that it would fall of deaf and dumb ears.  I put man in quotes because a real man respects  women, all women.  Since he is on his second marriage I feel sure that may be his whole problem.  He has not learned respect for women and boy does it show.  Just to clarify this rant.  It is the Moms that  see that these boys are fed and ready to go to practice and it is the Moms that sit with them while they do their homework before games and practices.  It is the Moms that take them to practice most of the time and sit watch and cheer them on during practice and games.  It is the Moms that brought these boys into this world and it is a Mom that will cheer, fret over, and defend to the death these children.   Now that I have all of that off of my chest, I feel so much better.

Teenage attitudes. . .

I am the mother of a teenager.  There really should be a special support group for parents of teens.  I know I am not the first and won't be the last and that my problems are not the worst.  We really need to band together to fight the nasty, smarmy, poor pitiful me attitudes of our teens.  I love my teen but he really knows how to push those buttons with his brother and with me.  He really is a great kid in general but, when those teen hormones start rocking he turns into an alien. 
My teen before he was a teen; he was smiling and happy, he would talk to me about things going on at school, and in general was mostly pleasant to be around with the exception of torturing his brother.  The later I could accept as normal sibling rivalry.   As a teen he has morphed into this smarmy, sarcastic, frowny faced, and brooding young man.   There are days when I see a glimpse of that pre-teen young man but they are few and far between lately.  He is still a good kid, please do not misunderstand me, and I love him dearly.   I know we are all suffering growing pains but, as a mom I want to fix everything and I want a quick fix.  I know that is not possible and I know that this is something we must all endure. 
I still refer back to my, "Power of a Praying Parent" for comfort and prayers.  If you are a parent of a teen I highly recommend that book.  The Author, Stormie O'Martin, gives you specific prayers to say for certain areas of your child's life.  She also recounts some of her own road blocks as a parent and how she prayed through them.  I always say as parents we should spend our time in battle on our knees.