Dear Parents of Older, Non-teenage Boys (i.e., Survivors):
I need your advice. As you may know, I have a 14 year old who tests my patience.
But I just spent a week on a cruise with him. It was … interesting.
It started out in typical fashion. He was cranky:
Once on the boat, it seemed like he would fall into last year’s freak-flag-flying habit of making a face in every photo:
But then he got sick:
And kept everyone up three nights in a row by coughing. So I got back at him in my own special way: by harassing him mercilessly:
You can tell he isn’t feeling well:
And here he is being nice to his “cousin” Mia:
But we Lysoled the place every day to reduce germs:
And soon he was back to normal, making sure the stingray was a girl before he would kiss it:
And harassing his father:
And Ryder:
And telling me he planned to troll the hot tubs to score numbers (in this getup and baby glasses he found, no less):
So my question for you is this:
How do I keep the funny, silly Dominic and get rid of the one who is such a pain on the reg?
Not fix his phone so he’s forced to communicate with us? (He’s shattered two.)
Or just accept that he is 14, hormonal, and PERHAPS too much like me?
Thanks in advance for words of wisdom.
Gratefully,
Beth, Mother of a Dragon
Observe and report 