Monday, March 2, 2020

Anticipation

Oh, the anticipation! Every mother knows this feeling, the waiting on their child to come home from school feeling,  equal parts excitement, and anxiety.  The feelings are even greater if you are a parent of a high schooler, even more so if the high schooler is a boy.  High school boys say about 5 words all day....you can only hope that they have not used up all their words at school. The feelings are magnified by about 1000 if the said high schooler is behind the wheel of a car. 

I am desperately trying to read the blog posts and make comments but every two point five seconds, I check the clock.
 3:35, 3:40 Shouldn't he be home by now?  It's raining, I think, that will make him slower.  Oh, wait, teenagers are bad drivers...did he crash?
3:42, 3:43 The dogs bark and begin their frantic dance of announcing someone's presence.  False alarm, it is the new neighbors moving in across the street.  Can't these dogs tell the sound of his car?  3:46, 3:47  Read another blog post, make another comment.
3:50, 3:51 I get out all the leftovers and make sure food is readily available.  Teenagers eat a great deal of food, especially boys who are weight training daily.  I mean seriously he ate two bags of beef jerky and two apples with peanut butter as a snack!
3:52 Finally, I hear the music, the loud thumping of some god awful rap music.  I am pretty sure this music is damaging not only his hearing but his brain cells.  Our big, blond lab cocks his head in that lab way.  He raises his eyebrow as if to say, "He is finally home, my best friend in the entire world." The smaller of our two dogs begins his warning barks.  His little stumpy tail begins to wiggle back and forth.  This time their alarm is correct.... the teenager is home.  My anticipation grows...will this be a happy teenager?....will he be talkative?.... or will the quiet, sullen, I am so tired teenager open the door?
3:53 I hear the car door slam, his footsteps on the back porch.  I fix my face in that mom of a teenager's face... not too eager, not to calm, just that perfect mix of expressions.  The door opens wide, the dogs jump with ecstasy, the playful barking continues.  The teenager pets them, rubbing their necks and smiling at their excitement.  I am waiting patiently to see which teenager came home today.  "Hi, Mom!"  "Hey! How was your day?"  "It was ok. What's for dinner?  I am starving."

4 comments:

  1. I can totallyyyyyy relate!!!! Thank you for this!!!! I do appreciate my teen girl a bit more now...she says at least 20 words a day!

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  2. I love the way you how us you anxiety and make it clear that your son has no idea how you are feeling. Great depiction of two characters.

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  3. I couldn't love this more! I often feel like there needs to be support groups for moms of teens...especially boys.. especially boys that drive! Thank you for sharing.

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  4. You got me waiting on the edge of my seat. I loved the little slowdown even after the high school boy has walked in...the wait to see which version of him arrives home today.
    I felt a quiet humor underlying this descriptive small moment. I am content. Just quiet down those canines, please!

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