Growth is a part of life. When your son reaches that point when his not playing with toys anymore but swings to X-box and Play Station, you start having some cause for concern for how much his mentality has changed so fast. Here are some struggles only mothers of teenage boy would understand.
1. He doesn’t seem to be listening anymore
Whether he is playing video games or listening to songs on his I-pod, he rarely is paying attention to everything you say. He seems engrossed to a world of his own sounds, the one he has defined for himself, and that may not include the sound of you, his mother.
2. He doesn’t make it easier for you to raise him
You think as he grows older he will make it easier for you to nurture him; maybe he will mature and take more responsibilities. But it isn’t easier for you now. Rather you have to respond to any negative conduct he develops with forgiveness, humor, attentiveness and encouragement.
3. He breaks all the rules
A simple rule as getting home at a particular time doesn’t apply to him anymore. Actually getting home by 8 pm is not so simple a rule anymore. No screen nights and doing more household chores like taking out the trash are really difficult tasks or routines for him to adhere to.
4. He is growing faster than you know it
His voice is getting deeper. He is grabbing his meals and throwing them into his body like a whale. He is making double orders at restaurants and his muscles are popping out. You have to enlarge your refrigerator and buy more supplies to adjust to his new demands.
5. He has external confidantes
You expect or want him to get closer to you, perhaps treat you the same way he treats the ladies he is becoming attracted to. You want him to give you deeper respect and share his stories with you, but the opposite is the case.
6. He will make more mistakes
As much as you do not like this point, you have to understand you also passed through that period of teenage years when many important things didn’t really matter as much as the opposite sex or hanging out with friends. He will make mistakes because somewhere in between the struggle for independence and nonchalance, life will teach him a lesson or two.
7. He gives you tougher battles
It was easier to instruct and guide him before now. You can see that he is maturing and standing tall and you cannot make him appear to be the smaller person in the room. Fights or arguments with him have become more ferocious and difficult. You really have to pick your battles with him carefully now.
8. He doesn’t want you teach him how to drive
Many mothers will agree on this. He is independent and the mother cannot be the one to pass him through the delicate phase of driving a car. What will his friends say? How they will mock him. It will be better for his father to take on this role.
9. He offers you mixed emotions
You want to cry when he succeeds with his high school football team or does great with his grades. You will also want to cry when he makes a mistake or stumbles. It is a roller coaster of different emotions taking over you all through this period.
10. He will have to clean up the mess himself
You could have done the cleaning up when he was younger. You could have managed his wrongs and dealt with them just fine when he was younger. But now you have to watch him take charge of those situations and stand up to fix any mess he causes.
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