TERRIBLE TWO’S....TERRIBLE TEENS...or NEITHER

“...she can laugh at the days to come.” Proverbs 31:25

 

I remember when Ryan, our oldest was a baby.  We were such proud parents and loved showing off our wrapped bundle with big blue eyes, chubby cheeks, and round face.  He was a great baby.  He slept through the night early on, ate on schedule and hit all those milestones on the textbooks given dates.  As I was trying to adjust to motherhood, older woman would always stop me at grocery stores, at church, or in the mall and say, “He may be good now but just wait till he hits two.”  Ah yes, the infamous terrible twos.  Those two words strike terror in my heart.  I pictured a one-shoed kid screaming through a parking lot with a lollipop in his hair and a haggard mother in baggy sweats and spaghetti stained shirt hopelessly trailing behind.  Will I ever survive?

Two years later I was in the midst of chasing a two year old (with a newborn on my hip) and it didn’t seem so terrible.  Ryan was by no means an angel; there were tantrums and spankings, limits pushed and toys strung all over the house at all times.  There was screaming and lollipops in hair.  It was like every other stage of parenting (before and since): messy, tiring and required a lot of selflessness.  But terrible?  No. 

Once Ryan outgrew toddlerhood and his early elementary years, older women would snicker, rolled their eyes and say, “Just wait till the teen years.”  I began to dread navigating those teen years up ahead.  I invisioned 

 

Rebellion, bad attitudes and awkwardness filled my mind.  I imagined teenhood like a plague - to avoid at all costs. 

Now I have a teenager and guess what?  It doesn’t seem so terrible.  In fact, I like it.  I love how he can articulate his thoughts and ask insightful questions.  I love seeing him hang with the big guys in volleyball and rock on the guitar.  I love seeing his passion for reading develop and his love for his siblings grow.  I love hearing him speak Spanish and realize that he has a love of learning languages.  I love how he tells me he missed me after he’s been at a friend’s house for days (he misses me!). 

All those times of teaching the Bible, training behavior, molding character and modeling attitudes when he was younger is being to bear fruit.  Granted, he’s only been a teen for a year and a half now, but I absolutely love the teen that my son has developed into. Are we done teaching the Bible, training behavior, molding character and modeling attitudes?  By no means!  They just take on a different shape and form – on car trips with just dad or on his bed after the others are asleep.  It’s like talking to a friend because, well, he is my friend.  He is someone that I enjoy being around and miss when he is absent.  I realize that there may be bumps and glitches and no-so-pleasant days or months ahead, but I no longer fear those (terrible) teen years.  I can do this; and that’s a good feeling because, if I have calculated right, I still have 46 ½ teen years left to navigate!