Its been one heck of a journey bringing up my son over the past 20 years. He has always been a beautiful and gentle soul with the best intentions most times. However he has had his not so great moments. From the the time he turned 14 until now I can safely say that it’s been a difficult couple of years, not knowing if I’m ever doing the right thing. I’ve always been the “encourage them to talk” Mum and it didn’t always work out in my favour. Sometimes he would say things I actually didn’t want to hear and there was a point in our relationship where we weren’t getting along at all. It almost seemed like he was intentionally doing things to annoy me daily. When he matriculated he chose to study away from home, and it shattered me when I had to say goodbye for the first time and take a flight back home.
I called him everyday for the first 2 years and sometimes I would feel like I was the only one in our relationship who actually cared. But then as he approached 20, I could see a change in him. A reignited love for his family, a new appreciation of having parents who love and support him, a longing to see his sister and hear her voice more than ever. Something had changed in him and as we celebrated his 20th birthday I watched him from across the table and realised that he was listening. All those times I thought he would get annoyed by me “nagging” as he would say, I now know that he did absorb everything I tried to teach him during the very trying years of adolescence. I have come to find that although his adult journey has just started, he is going to be ok. Although my prayers never end, I have more confidence now than I ever have that the next chapter in my sons life will be an incredible one ❤️
