Awkward Teenage Moments....

When you parent a teenager, you discover that life is full of awkward moments. The first time you realize that you really need to start knocking on their door before you open it. The first time you go searching under the bed for stray socks and find a pillowcase or hand towel. Or how about the moment when your teenager tells you about their first more-physical-than-a-small-no-tongues-used-kiss experience?

At least all of those are awkward moments just for you and the teenager that belongs to you. Don't forget about the awkward moments that happen with your teenager's friends.

Jock was forced to endure enjoyed an afternoon at the grocery store with me today. Along our route to the shampoo aisle, where I would be forced to take out a loan just to pay for the particular brand of shampoo he insists he has to have, we passed the family planning aisle. And standing right in front of the main attraction on the family aisle was one of Jock's friends from the football team. This friend was debating the merits of one particular brand versus another with yet another teenage boy. Jock walked up behind them and greeted them in the universal teenage boy way; a slap on the shoulder and a loud "Dude!"

The boys looked up, glanced over at me, and proceeded to ignore me. Which I was totally okay with, because hello? Acknowledging what they were shopping for would have mortified them, and reminded ME that my son is plenty old enough to have been standing right beside them shopping for the same thing. So I walked myself over to the next aisle and pretended to look for the perfect shampoo while waiting for my son to join me.

But I AM giving those boys HUGE points for being responsible enough to use those family planning aids. And for having the guts confidence to be in the middle of Wally World on a Saturday afternoon three weeks before Christmas, when every last family in the community is there and word is absolutely guaranteed to get back to their mothers about what they were buying.