Teenager Number Two

Thirteen years ago.  It still feels like a few weeks ago. I can still remember arriving anxiously at the hospital at some ridiculous hour in the morning.  I think it was around six thirty.  There was a covering of snow on the ground and it was freezing.  Two weeks overdue and I had tried everything to try and get baby number two out naturally.  My first delivery had been a caesarean section and so they had been willing to see if this baby wanted to take the natural route.  No chance.  I should have known from that point on that he was going to be a stubborn little devil.

We sat nervously on the bed waiting for proceedings to begin and we waited and waited.  We heard the mention of our names outside the room and some confusion.  It turned out that a change of shift and a lack of communication meant that they were still waiting for us to arrive.  We all laughed and a few hours later, he arrived.

Fair haired and perfect.  He barely made a sound.  He was so quiet and contented.  The perfect baby.

Thirteen years.  How has that passed by so quickly?

This time last year, I wrote my usual birthday themed post and I came up with 12 things all about him.  I wondered if many of those things had changed with the arrival of the teenage years. Quite a few have.

The signs of affection are no longer in abundance.  In fact, he would now be happier if there were none. Absolutely not in public or anywhere anyone else will see. I think (and hope) that that will change as he grows older, it really isn’t good for street cred to be seen kissing your old mum, I do get that, but I do miss the affection and when I do get a rare hug, he pats me on the back awkwardly like I have wind or something.

I talked about his big heart, having patience and tolerance. He does still have a big heart, he is a very kind and thoughtful young man.  He is still amazing with his little sister. Unless he is tired. I only have myself to blame for passing that trait on.  Patient and tolerant? Definitely less so.

The radar-like ears that heard everything have also become ears that hear nothing. Selectively or otherwise.  He is either tuned into the headset of his Xbox Live or zoned into his iPad and I might be better off talking to myself.

But many of the things have remained.  He works hard in school always putting in the extra effort needed and his parent’s evenings are a joy to attend.  Sport still plays a huge part in his life but he has realised that even he needs a couple of days off. He still spends far too much time worrying about his hair and infuriates me when he won’t come off the Xbox. But these are all battles that I can cope with.

The last twelve months have seen him grow and flourish in everything he does.  Life here at times has been tough, but he has grown resilient and it certainly hasn’t stood in his way.  He has a keen interest in school and has achieved great results across the board. In his final year at his current school, he is a prefect and was picked to take a Young Leaders course which has completely inspired him.

In sport, he is now about 18 months away from being a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do, if he continues with his current level of training and commitment.  Swimming has become more about training than competing and he is now helping out poolside as he wants to give something back to the club.

But rugby is still his true love.  He has had a few niggly injuries but still managed to play in his school team reaching the quarter-finals of the National Cup and finals of the County Cup and he throws himself into both school and club rugby.

So what will the teen years bring with this one I wonder?  Door slamming, claims of injustice and unreasonable parenting? He has already developed the teen art of not being able to get up in the morning and generally thinking that his parents are the most embarrassing humans ever, but he is a great kid, so I hope that these teen years will be a relatively smooth ride.

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