Muffins with Mom – Demands of a teenager

 

In my household, Thursdays are reserved for high school football games at this time of year.  Armed with this knowledge, I plan my day accordingly. Little did I know, that this instance would not be a typical Thursday. I knew if I wanted to workout, I would have to fit it in early. So I went to the gym before work and left my capable teen son home to prepare himself for the day.

When I left the gym, I checked my phone as I usually do. There were a couple of missed calls from my son and a text message. My first thought was, he missed the bus…again. Not this time. His frantic test said, “I forgot my cleats, I need u to bring them to school.”

I could handle that request with a small adjustment of my schedule. I would go by the house at lunch time, grab the cleats and deliver them to the school. After I relayed this to my son, the next text came…

“I need u to take me home when u bring the cleats.”

With furrowed eyebrows, I responded with, “???Why?”

“I need to boil my mouthpiece. I lost the old one.”

I didn’t respond right away to that request. I needed to process the information. I refused to go to the school and tell the office staff that I needed to sign my son out so he could go home and boil his mouthpiece.

I knew my son needed to boil the mouthpiece so it would fit properly, but why couldn’t this have been done the night before it was needed? He forgot. Now it was left up to me to creatively find a way to connect my son with his mouthpiece before the game.

Once again, I adjusted my lunch time to coincide with my sons so I could take him home without him missing class. Luckily we only live ten minutes from his school. We arrived home, boiled the mouth piece, grabbed the cleats, and my son made it back to school by the next period.

Operation football gear was complete and I made it back to work in a timely manner. All that was left to do was to make the 30 minute drive to the away game and support the team.

The life of a teenager can be demanding…at least for his parents.

Have you had an experience with a demanding teen?