I am the last stop—the final person on the list of possibilities that my teens come to when they are looking to alleviate boredom. There have been windows of time when I wasn’t even on the list—I fell completely off. But, now, I have returned to the bottom of the list of possible human interactions, but I know if someone asks me to watch television, go for ice cream, or whatever, that they have exhausted all of their other social opportunities…
Let’s get one thing straight, however, I EXPECT to be at the bottom of the list. As a matter of fact, I have been delightfully surprised that my teenagers have started to want to spend time with me occasionally again, so it sort of seems like I’m in the bonus round—even if it is a 9:00 pm, nobody-is-home-or-on-instant-message kind of “hanging out” that we do. I don’t have any pride when it comes to these things and I’m willing to watch the episode of “The Simpsons” or chat about the weather over microwave popcorn. I don’t mind being the last stop to boredom oblivion at all.
It does take a little energy sometimes for me to shift focus. For example, last night I had crawled into bed with a library book early—thinking I’d get a good night’s sleep before starting another kooky, busy week, and one of my daughters knocked on my bedroom door: “What are you doing? Want to watch some TV with me?” For a brief moment, I thought of declining, snuggling down in my covers and drifting off to sleep. But, of course, the realities of motherhood took over. After all, these invitations don’t come nearly as often as they used to; it won’t be long until I can get all the sleep I need…
Also: I’ll Take All The Compliments I Can Get
Getting the Teens to Talk to Me–It’s Feast or Famine