My oldest is 16 today. Maybe that explains my melancholy for the past few days.
I wasn’t prepared for him to grow up so fast. But then again, I wasn’t prepared to bring him home from the hospital. I was scared. I remember asking for my “owner’s manual” when we were leaving the hospital. The nurses laughed at me.
Seriously, people. You get an owner’s manual with every major kitchen appliance and car you purchase. You even get instructions with the frozen lasagna from Stouffer’s, but you ask nicely about what to do with the new born baby they’re just letting you walk out of the hospital with and you get NOTHING.
Oh, yeah. There was some lame book about “What to Expect When You Come Home From the Hospital and You Finally Have to Take Care of Your Baby By Yourself in the Middle Night.” It wasn’t very helpful.
I survived those sleepless nights. And now I’m looking for a new manual. The one that explains the mood swings of a teenage boy and tells you how to interpret the grunts that he thinks passes as communication.
So, I’m scared again. He’s learning to drive and becoming more independent every day. I know that’s the way it’s supposed to be, but I’m just not prepared for him to be growing up so fast.
I have a feeling the sleepless nights are about to return.
“Train up a child up in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6
Where the Boys Are 
It’s one thing to endure the sleepless nights with your sweet baby in your arms………..ya know, I just can’t tell you. Just call me when your heart aches, cause you know I’ll be right there with ya.
Now I have to go call my girl and tell her to get home right NOW!! LOL
You are a good mom. Seek God.
Honestly, I don’t have teenagers yet, but learning from my mother-in-law, you just gotta trust that God will guide him.
I know, I’m not there yet, so just remind me of this when I do get there!
Keep us posted on the teenage-hood, our eldest is just 12, with 2 more, and a sister behind him…I CLING to this verse, and get reminded by peers that it says “when he is OLDER he will not depart from it”. Is this really to mean that they very well may indeed depart for a time? (((shudder)))