I live for the phone calls.
One week of parenting squeezed into 50 minutes of phone
conversation.
Every conversation begins with “what r u doing?” -Just in
case I am interrupting him when he is with his friends.
And then I have a list to go through – questions to be asked.
How are You? What have You had for dinner? What are you doing on the weekend?
How are your friends? Who do U hang out with? How is work?
And then questioning the questions and getting to the bottom
of the answers.
And occasionally the unexpected statements that take my
breath away.
The statements that want me to say ‘No”!! But I stop myself
and take a deep breath. I remind myself that he is experiencing life harder and
faster than most people twice or three times his age. In the one year he has
been away he had more adventures than some people in their lifetimes. So how am
I to say ‘No’ to an idea that he is running past me, knowing full well that his
heart is set on it, his mind is made up and all he needs is a sounding board to
talk it out loud. And he is right, and his ideas and plans make sense and my bosom
swells with pride and reassurance. – ‘he is doing well’
I hang up reassured and relive every word that we exchanged
and plan for my next phone call.