Tweens?

Oh my but it was a busy Christmas and New Year's for us. I won't bore you with lengthy descriptions of our Christmas and New Years. Readers Digest version, Christmas at 3 houses was fantastic! New Year's was AWESOME! 2011 may have been rough for us, still living with the in laws and all but it was not a total loss. In fact, in a lot of ways things were steadily improving. So, I have high hopes for 2012.

Somewhere a mist all the festivites my oldest, Sean, turned 10. I think that officially makes him a tween. Yes? And OMG! I so don't want to think much on that because he has sisters who are 7 and 5. Seems like tweendom is fast approaching all my babies. I think that some think this age with boys is preferable to girls but I think it's 6 one way half a dozen another. I know I have yet to experience my very own tween girls but I remember what that awkward age is like and well, it's not like it's gotten easier since I was that age.

I see daily Sean struggle with wanting to be a kid and being a teen. He wants to order off the big peoples menus but gets upset when he doesn't get the dessert or toy that comes with kids menu. If we go to McD's I order him a Mighty Kid's meal cause it's slightly bigger and he still gets the toy. Yet, some how he always forgets he'll still get a toy and gets all upset cause he wants the toy.

But what I'm really not ready for is puberty. I'm a girl. DUH! I have no idea how to guide a little man through this age. It apparently scares my hubby more cause he cringes when I mention things he may need to discuss with our son. Me? I don't want to be that person unless Sean asks me. I'm not really prepared to answer questions but I'm working on getting there. I strongly feel that since he has a Dad in his life that that is the person he should go to. I mean I nearly fainted, that may be exaggerated, when he told me he was a man cause he now has hair down there.

OMG! I totally handled my little Meg telling me she had boobs way better than I took that sentence from Sean. Seriously, I did. After all, Meg is 5 and definitely does not have boobs, yet. Or B who asserts impending tweendom aggressively. I mean, she demands privacy in the bathroom for crying out loud! Yet, she has no issue barging right in on me. *sigh*

Plus? There's the fact that I now have a 10 year old. 10 seems pretty significant to me. Like we've come a long way from his not sleeping as an infant at night, hardly ever. All the ear/sinus infections. The amazement at him finally walking at 13mos old and me saying I told you he'd do it when he was ready! Which ironically, happened just a day or so after he had ear tubes put in. Through the crazy terrible twos/toddler years, cause we all know terrible does not begin or end with two, thank you very much. To him becoming a big brother a few months before turning 3. That was an interesting adjustment. Then school. Another sister. Troubles with school and behavior. To discovering all the bad behavior was not solely bad parenting on my part. Us struggling with what was going on and defying outside family at every turn insisting we were making the right decisions. To moving in with Nana/Pop, the very people we agree to disagree with about Sean and his diagnoses and meds. That seems like such a lot in just 10 years. Yet, I know it really isn't.

I'm not prepared 100% for him to be completely interested in girls or dating. Lord help the first one to break his heart. Pretty sure I'm more scared of all the normal tween/teen things than I am the fact he's steadily got to take responsibility for himself and his struggles. But I hope he knows that no matter what this world throws at him that he knows we'll be behind him.

I'm not sure going through tweendom into teendom is great prep for the girls to follow not long behind but the experience can't hurt.