Muffins with Mom 3 Signs kids are maturing…maybe

photo credit: The Gospel Coalition

When my boys were younger people always told me, “Enjoy them now, they grow up so fast.” I would look at those people as though they had two heads and just smile. Their comment often came after I’d just finished gritting my teeth and scolding one of them.

Now that my little cherubs are almost fully grown, I’ve noticed some changes in them. They’re working on maturing, but still have a little ways to go. Below are three signs that I’ve discovered to be indicators of kids maturing.

1.      Becoming more independent

My teenager is experiencing cooking for himself at college. When he was home for a day, he told me that he needed to go grocery shopping when he got back to school. I suggested, “There is meat in the freezer that needs to be eaten before it goes bad. Take it back with you.”

“Um, I’m done eating stuff just so it won’t go bad. Thanks anyway.”

“Well, I’m glad you’ve learned to cook, so you can eat what you want when you want.”

My picky eater finally learned to cook.

2.      Learning to problem solve

My son wrote his first college paper last week. He had a dynamic opening that grabbed the reader’s attention. He also included good examples to support his topic. I was proud that he did this on his own before asking me to proof read the paper.

I fixed his floating commas, pointed out words that needed to be capitalized and reminded him to use spell check. My next suggestion was that he change the font size of all words throughout the paper.

I said, “Are you trying to make sure the paper can be read from a distance?” The font size was so large it was obvious he was trying fill the page to meet his page count. All he could say was, “You got me Mama.”

Although my son was trying to stretch his words to meet the requirements of his paper, I was glad that he took initiative. In addition to asking me for help, he utilized the tutoring lab at his school.

3.      Clean up after self

How often have you said to your child, “Clean your room or you need to help clean up”? Now that my son is away at school this concept has finally clicked for him. Having to share his living space with someone else, my son learned quickly why I always wanted him to “clean up.”

There have been times when he has had to do more than his fair share of cleaning. He has learned to shop for cleaning supplies, compare prices and monitor his spending.

What would you add to the list of signs your child is maturing or at least on the road to maturity?