Thirteen.

We have a teenager in the house!  We have now for awhile, but I haven’t gotten an opportunity to talk about it.  Maybe in my subconscious I didn’t want to talk about it.  Having a teenager makes me feel old older, and it is a painful reminder that he is one year closer to leaving the nest, but I after spending two weeks with this dandy, I am ready to talk about thirteen.  Thirteen is awesome.  I know that the picture might portray something entirely different, but I feel lucky to be his mom.  Actually, this picture is exactly why I love this kid so much.  He is confident, kind, and never takes himself too serious.  He loves to have fun, but not at the expense of others…believe it or not, that is pretty hard to find with teenage boys now days.   This kid is by no means perfect and has flaws, but this blog is not the place to talk about them.  He knows his flaws, and we talk about them.  He will remember them.  I don’t need to remind him of them.  My job is to remind him of how much fun he was when he was thirteen.  He wasn’t defiant, he didn’t think he was too cool for Skipbo and Candyland with his sisters, a hug and kiss from his mom, or evening walks with his dad.  He whistled a lot, and loved mornings and big breakfasts.  He ate a lot!  He was very particular about the length of his hair and his shoes.  He had a great sense of humor and made us laugh every single day!  Thirteen was pretty awesome with this boy! 

We loved you at 2, we loved you at 5, and we loved you at 8 and 10.  But, Caden Micah, we are having so much fun with you at 13!  I love you.  Mom

The morning of his birthday he awoke to a bouquet of balloons tied to a Red-Bull energy drink.  Every time we grocery shopped together he would enviably ask for an energy drink.  Every time, my answer was no, followed by a lecture about how unhealthy they are for you, how they don’t taste that good, and they were a total waste of money.  So, on his thirteenth birthday I decided I was going to let him try his first energy drink…a right of passage of sorts:).  He was sorely disappointed  and couldn’t even finish the whole drink.  He has never asked for another one.  I should have let him try one when he was 9!!!!