Life with a Teenage Boy

They never warned me of what would happen

They placed him in my arms full of smiles and dimples and sweet baby smells

Sixteen years ago

So sweet and squishy

Full of coos and sweet baby noises

He made me a mom

I thought the whole world would be his oyster

He would be smart and funny and sweet

He would play tee ball and maybe become a doctor or professional athlete

Then something happened to his little baby cheeks

They thinned out and his body stretched

I wasn't looking down on my boy anymore

I was looking up!

He was towering over me

Covered in dirt

Smelling of sweat and boy

He didn't hit the books like I thought he would

He shunned them like bad meat

He took to the dirt

He put himself on two wheels and flew through the sky

Giving me small heart attacks with each jump

He made noises louder than my ears could handle

He challenged other boys to push up contests and running races

He exhausted himself in sweaty boyhood

BUT he makes me proud

He uses his manners to show respect

He helps his friends come out of their shells

He protects the people he loves with the ferocity of a twenty foot T-rex

And eats like one too

He works hard to make his own money

He fixes his own playthings and builds his own racetracks and mud pits

Every day he shows me the man he is becoming

They didn't warn me

The baby boy who made me a mom

Would one day become the teenage boy who makes me prouder than I have ever been.