**originally posted on May 11, 2011

My husband is working away from home and my daughter is at college finishing up her first year there. So at home its just been my son and I. When he was little (he’s five years younger than his sister) we’d have these pockets of time together while she was at school but mostly I was writing at my computer and he was playing on the floor at my feet. This is our first time alone and I’m enjoying his company so much.

He’s funny and sarcastic the way a teenaged boy can be but he’s also very good at making sure I’m not alone. Every night after dinner, he sighs and says fine I’ll watch your show with you tonight. Like he’s making a sacrifice but he enjoys it. I tried giving him an out the other day but he said no, he’d stay and watch whatever I wanted. And I was struck by how mature that was.

I’m always amazed at my children. From the earliest moments of their lives I’ve felt so blessed to be their mother and to be able to kind of guide them through life. They are better people than I am, I’ll freely admit that. When others have asked me for advice about how I deal with my kids I really don’t know what to tell them. At their core they have always been the people they are. I just listened and laughed and pointed them in the right direction at times. And now I’m seeing firsthand how much that patience paid off with both of them.

Happy reading!
Katherine