Happy 13th Ayden!

 

Ayden,

Happy 13th Birthday! This year has been a year full of changes, including the big jump to seventh grade (reportedly the hardest year of middle school) and a major size change for you

 

.  You are now officially a teenager, with all the excitement, uncertainty, anticipation, and curiosity this time of life brings. You will notice many changes in your life, some subtle, some more obvious, and you will have many questions about these events. It is my job as your mother to explain the changes you will experience and to support you throughout this necessary process. Remember, though, everybody goes through it—it’s a normal part of growing up. Here, now, is what you can expect as you embark on your journey toward maturity:

One day you will wake up (somedays I think we have already reached this day), get ready for school, and say something to me. I will open my mouth to respond, but all you will hear is jibberish. My lips will be moving, but you won’t be able to comprehend what I am saying. You will be able to catch only a few words here and there: "work," "earn," "independent," "responsibility," but the rest will sound like formless yelling. For no apparent reason, I will be in turns angry, sad, defiant, and reclusive. You will wonder where the mommy you’ve always known and loved has gone, to be replaced by this yammering creature who is never satisfied with anything you do no matter how hard you may try. You will try everything: going into your room and slamming the door in order to give me some peace and quiet; telling me the fewest possible details about school and your social activities, so as not to burden me with too much information; sneaking frantic texts to your friends whose parents are possessed by the same bizarre demon.

But the most mysterious thing of all will be the fact that suddenly, I will seem to have lost all my knowledge and common sense. I will be completely ignorant of everything in the entire world: clothes, hairstyles, music, art, books, sports, etc. You will attempt to walk out the door on your way to school wearing a perfectly good outfit, and I will make you go back to your room and change. You will be minding your business listening to perfectly fine music, and I will force you to turn it down or, even worse, off entirely. You will spend time perfecting your hair style, and I will freak out until you fix it "back the way it was." You will make plans to spend a perfectly normal day with your friends, and I will demand to know who they are, where you are going, what you will be doing, and when you will return. And then, even after you supply all of the requested information, I will still get angry! You will shake your head in bewilderment as you slam the door behind you, marveling at what a totally insane dork your mother is.

But guess what when you’re about twenty years old, another radical change will take place. You will say something to me, and I will smile and answer you sweetly in words you understand. You will ask me a question, and I will respond with a reasonable answer that’s actually not stupid. My endless obnoxious complaints about your clothes, your hair, your friends, your music, your life—all will slowly vanish. Once again I will become the intelligent, personable, pleasant mommy you vaguely remember from your childhood, except with more wrinkles and more gray hair. As you hug me goodbye and gently close the door behind you, you will breathe a sigh of relief that this tempestuous life stage has finally passed. 

I will patiently (as possible) be waiting for the return of these days.  I know the years ahead will be trying, but through it all remember I love you more!

Love,
Mommy