I don't know if it's just wishful thinking or a well told lie they would love to believe, but they are often greatly disappointed to hear that my 16 year old is just as hard to "mom" as my twin toddlers.
It never ever ever gets easier. Not even slightly. It evolves and changes over the years, but easier it is not.
A recent example ... The H.S.'s football season came to an end with a heartbreaking loss in the quarter finals. Luckily, my son headed right into basketball the following Monday and was too distracted to dwell on it all. Oh how a 16 year old sports crazed boy can dwell.
I was beyond thrilled that he had survived the football season without any major injuries and managed to be a starter for the J.V. team every game. Victory for Mom. Onward to basketball.
Day 3 of basketball practice ended with a phone call to my cell. It was my son's phone but a man's voice spoke.
Mrs. Wagner? This is your son's basketball coach Mr. So-And-So. Your son took a really hard fall here at practice landing on his back. He seems to be in a fair amount of pain and is having some shortness of breathe.I said very little letting the coach know I am 2 minutes away. However, I'm thinking "Oh my God! Not his back!" He broke his back back in 8th grade, a small fracture to L7, and was in a back brace for something like 10 weeks. Mini Panic!
3 hours in the emergency room, a couple x-rays, a couple doctors, and a couple pain pills made a world of difference for him. Nothing broken, he will be perfectly fine in a week or two. As a matter of fact, last night he played in a tournament game for a couple minutes.
Me? I'll never be perfectly fine, I'm a mom. Twin two year olds, a nine year old, a twelve year old, and a sixteen year old; all of them keeping me constantly on my toes. Just another reminder that nothing really worth doing is ever truly easy.