Teenagers

Sometimes parenting teenagers can be pretty grim and dreary when you're dealing with the fall out from bad decisions they make. The past couple of weeks have been hard, but we are determined not to let it get us down. I will find joy in every small step toward maturity and moments of levity that come along.

Eric was telling us that some girls at McDonalds were talking about how they have their closets organized by clothing's color. He proudly shared with them that he has just started actually hanging up clothes in his closet instead of cramming them all into drawers. Wonderful growth.

I always have confidence that Nick knows what he is talking about. He wanted to visit Batteries Plus on the way home from school yesterday to check out a battery for his laptop. After we clarified that he could not beg or borrow any money from me if he was short, I agreed to stop by. He said it was over by the skatepark in a yellow building. Well, the Battery Exchange is in a yellow building there but after driving around a bit there was no sign of Batteries Plus. He called his father who checked on line for a location. Will asked how much gas we had in the car. He informed Nick there was one in Atlanta. Today Nick asked around and learned that they are in Salem or Eugene, not Albany. He was just sure he had seen a commercial for it in Albany. Oh well.

On our way home as we reached the top of the overpass the sky was gorgeous with glowing clouds as the sun began to set. I exclaimed, "Look at the sky!" Nick looked around and asked, "What guy?" "Huh?" I say. "You said look at this guy," he said. Communication is not easy.

Nick often gets to see and hear more than he wants in the office after school. Yesterday a staff member surreptiously dropped off a bra at my desk after finding it on the hall floor. I put it in the safe, next to a backpack containing Nick's laptop. After school a bunch of teachers are in the office and Helen tells them, "Guess what fell out of Nick's backpack in the safe." She opens the safe and shows them. Nick protested, "I already told you, it's not even my size!" I said, "Someone must have booby trapped his backpack!" Very sophisticated humor in school offices. No one has come to the office yet to ask if we've found a lost bra. We don't think it would be appropriate to put it out on the lost and found table so we may be stuck with it and it's way too tiny for any adult.

Dawn and Faith, thanks for all your comments. It is really fun hearing from you. Faith, I'm waiting for a new posting on your blog!