Stealing on Borrowed Time

My youngest son's transformation from a sweet little boy to 'I'm too-cool-to-be-seen with my mom' type teen has been hard on me. He was especially close to me as between the 2 boys, he's the one I've spent the most time with. I didn't return to work during the first 18 months of his life. When I was pregnant with him, we were in the middle of a move due to my husband's job so we made a decision that I stay home. That 100 percent presence no doubt, etched a different type of bond that I had with him. It's not that I love him more than my first child. I love them both equally! In my mind, he's always that sweet little baby, whose smile could instantly melt my heart in thousand little pieces no matter how tired I was. These days, a hug from him comes very rarely- which feels like mom-heaven if I ever received one. One thing's for sure, it's no longer voluntary. I'm forbidden to touch the top of his head or pat his back, let alone be allowed to be with him somewhere, other than at church or restaurants- but that has to be with dad or family but never with me alone except, at the hair salon! I'm welcomed there and I reassure myself that at least I still have that one opinion that he still counts on. As a mom, I feel him pulling away farther from me every day.

One day, he told me he needs more community service hours for National Honor Society. Since he likes tinkering and building things, I suggested helping a build for Habitat for Humanity- an organization I've volunteered for over the years. To my surprise, he accepted my suggestion and even requested my presence during orientation. When I said, I'd volunteer building with him, he didn't refuse!

At the build site, the supervisor teamed us up from taping paper on the floor, to painting doors and base boards, removing and replacing door hinges and sweeping up dust in the basement work site. This 'I'm too-cool-to-be-seen with my mom' teen worked by my side happily for roughly 7 hours! He showed his testy self towards the end of our shift when initially, he declined to put on a mask while sweeping the piles of dust left on the basement floor. At the end of our shift, he walked out of there saying, he will go back to help on another day he had signed up even though he has enough hours needed for NHS because he made a commitment. And since I had signed up with him, that I too should, and that more people should volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. His statement right there, brought me so much joy and pride for this boy.

I'm aware that I'm on borrowed time with my last teen. He too will fly away home soon. This weekend, I'm grateful that I was able to steal a good 7 hours of time working side by side with him as a team in doing something good as human beings.

#teens #borrowedtime #momofteens #emptynestsoon #HabitatforHumanity