My teen son has gone on a school trip to the Northern Cape. Though it’s not the first time he’s gone on a trip without my husband and I, it is the first time he’s gone that far.
Like a good mom (I try), I’ve been phoning him to check in on him everyday. Like a typical teenage boy, he doesn’t seem to appreciate my calls that much and our conversations are limited to me asking lots of questions and him giving me one word replies. If ‘mommy’ counts then at least it’s two word replies. Since I have been his mom for all of 13 years I know that I’ll probably never get anything more from him unless he volunteers or starts a conversation and that is usually my cue to shut up and listen and just make sounds every so often to show that I am following.
At the end of each call I always end off by saying ‘I love you’. (I can never get enough of telling my kids how much I love them.) Then I pause and wait for him to say those three words that I’ve gotten used to from him. ‘ME TOO MOMMY’ he says and my mother heart is complete. I managed to get three words out of him! Yay me!
Regardless of our 2 minute conversations the past few days, I know that even though he doesn’t say much he does need me to make those calls. He appreciates it more than he’ll ever admit. I’m gonna have to work on getting him to utter the actual words some time or the other but for now I’m satisfied because I know he loves me.
Surviving Jonkersville 