Family life can be somewhat lacking in major breakthroughs—especially when it comes to a child’s developmental stages. I’ve learned over the years that wholesale changes are few and far between and that it is the little advancements, the little developmental steps and leaps that I need to cling to and celebrate (mostly just to keep me from feeling like my kids will be living with me until their forty!)…
As example, this past weekend, my youngest son was actually up at a reasonable hour asking if we couldn’t have a “family breakfast” on Sunday. Now this might seem pretty common place and I’m here to tell you that a few years ago, the family breakfast on a Sunday WAS quite common place at our house. But fast forward a few years and with three high schoolers, nobody is ever up before 1:00 on a Sunday and by then I’ve been up and going for hours and am ready for a nap. So, my son went to bed the night before at a reasonable hour (I first questioned if he hadn’t just stayed up all night) and woke up, had a shower, and was ready for some waffles at 9:00 am. Sweet.
Follow this up with the fact that a day later, he actually washed and put away his lunch dishes (instead of leaving them in the sink) and I couldn’t help but feel like I needed to celebrate these fine, tiny efforts toward maturity. I think any parent who has been through the teenage years can tell you that it is mighty odd when they emerge back OUT of the bedroom they have claimed as cave and start to interact on a human level again. It starts out with small little advancements—as if they are testing the waters—and then you might not see them again or get anything more than a grunt for a few days before the next sighting.
We parents do what we can, hang in there, and celebrate the little victories and the little advancements—the washed dish, the “How was your day Mom?”, the folded stack of laundry. Little by little, they do manage to find a way to grow up.
Also: Things Tend to Move in Cycles