Phoenix turned 13 this year. There’s something about going from being the mom of two young kids to the mom of a teenager. I don’t feel old enough to have a teenager, but that is what happens when you pop one out a month before your 21st birthday. Essentially, we have grown up together, although I’m pretty sure he’s more mature than me, and possibly smarter. I chuckled the other day as he yelled at a kid’s book on space for its blatant “inaccuracies and biased language”. He has weekly conversations with my dad about quantum physics and space and the purpose of life; conversations that I have really nothing to add to. Lately he’s been picking up the guitar and has gotten into bands like Nirvana and Soundgarden. He probably knows more about Nirvana than I do, and I was his age when they were popular for pete’s sake!

I’m finding these teenage years to be an interesting challenge. When the boys were little, my plan was to never use the phrase “because I said so”. I felt that every “order” should have a reasonable clarification why. That sort of thinking didn’t last very long. I found myself resorting to that phrase as a shortcut way of saying “Just do it because I don’t feel like arguing over something so stupid”. Now, the phrase has become to mean “Because I said so”. There is a sometimes weird power struggle, and it becomes important to reiterate that I am the parent in this relationship and thereby am boss. Phoenix could make an excellent lawyer or debate team member. He can argue his point nonstop. I can admire that sort of persistence if it’s put to good use. Maybe by calling the publishers of that aforementioned book.