TheBanyanTree: man-child

[Julie Anna Teague]

I guess it's good to know, every now and then, that this self-sufficient
young man who has sprouted up in my house still needs his mom
occasionally.  Not that I wish him bad days, but it did feel sort of good
to be able to hug him and give him a kiss and tell him things would be ok.
So anyway, Andy had a really rough day yesterday...

He had an "away" wrestling meet, which meant 45 minutes on a school bus
there and 45 minutes back, plus all the wait time, etc. And he got a
forfeit so didn't get to wrestle again.  I'm starting to think he's the
only kid in Indiana who weighs 105 pounds.  Most frustrating for him, and
for me since I drove up there, but at least I was there for him, which I
think he needed, because even before the meet, he'd been have a REALLY BAD
day.

He'd split up with his first real girlfriend a week or so ago (for reasons
he did not exactly clarify, but whatever), so no Valentines day treats or
surprises except from his stupid old mom. :)  

And when he gets home from school in the afternoon, he always IMs me,
usually starting with, "Hey, whazzup?".  Yesterday, his first IM comes at
the normal time only it says, "I AM A FOOOOOOOL!!!!!!"  He had arranged
this special credit thing where he was going to sing a song he'd written
in history class, and play it on guitar.  (He's a bass player, and just
got an electric guitar for Christmas and hasn't started lessons yet, so it
is not exactly his forte, but he was determined.)  He practiced all
weekend and had the whole thing down perfectly, and then apparently
totally screwed up in class.  And people laughed at him.  Ugh. Brutal blow
to the delicate ego. 

Then he got a science test back and he had failed it (he is normally a
straight A student).  He said the teacher kept hanging over his desk and
bellowing out "What happened?  What in the world happened?"  I know his
science teacher and she has minimal "people skills", so I have no doubt
that she did somehow manage to humiliate him.  In any case, I told him
that everyone blows a test every now and then, walking that thin parental
line between being supportive and still subtly reminding him that I had
not seen much studying going on at home lately and that he'd been staying
up way too late.  I normally do not harp on him about these things because
he generally does what he needs to do.  But the result was devastating, so
I have no doubt that he'll be picking up the science book a bit more now. 

By last night, he was sitting at the table trying to do homework at about
9:30.  He finally put his head down on his papers and said, "I don't feel
well, I'm going to bed" (an hour before normal bedtime).  Then he asked if
I'd tuck him in, which he doesn't usually do anymore.  I pulled his
blankets up, tucked them in around him, kissed his long stringy teenaged
hair, and told him everything would be better tomorrow.  It's nice to be
needed sometimes, even though it is painful as heck to watch my kid have
one of those days in which the whole world seems hell bent to disappoint.

Julie