I Know Every Mama Says It, But In My Case...It's True

I've always believed that I have awesome boys.  A lot of that belief is just being a mama, because I'm sure at some point, someone else has NOT believed I have awesome boys.  And although I try to be all that is nice and friendly on a near-constant basis (Shush! Yes, you...shush! That includes YOU...shush! I am nice.), I have to point out that those someone elses that don't believe I have awesome boys? Well, they're just wrong.

In the week since Coach has been gone (and I'm doing better than I think anyone gave me credit for, thankyouverymuch.....but check back with me next week. Could be a different story...), the amount of stepping up that my boys have done is just .... cool. 

No more arguments about bedtime. (I just go when I want to... haha!) 
Dishes just seem to get done, no procrastination witnessed.
Dogs get fed. Actual dog food, not just what they find left out on the coffee table.

I tell you, it's awe-inspiring.

The Teenager, though....now HE'S really impressive.  With dad gone, we figured Bug would feel it the most. After all, much like I've been the constant in the Teenager's athletic life, dad's been Bug's. He's been coach and private instructor, cheerleader and feedback-giver.  And he's been to EVERYTHING.  Now, all of a sudden, he's not there. So yeah, we know he's going to feel that absence a little stronger than the Teenager will. 

But.....

The Teenager is picking Bug up from track practice after school. He's taking him to baseball practice, and sticking around to watch and help out. He's at every game, cheering him on. He's the first one to reach him after the game, to congratulate or commiserate. He's making sure Bug eats before games and practices. And he's cut wayyyy back on deliberately picking arguments with his little brother. (Can't give up EVERYTHING fun, can he?)

As an added bonus to what I know to the depths of my soul is a great kid? He decided to make dinner the other night. He planned it, he made sure the main course was thawed the correct way.  He even waited to tell me about it until he discovered he couldn't just surprise me, although he did plan on having it ready when I got home from work.  And before you think it was just something easy like ramen or Shells-n-cheese, allow me to impress you. Grilled salmon, Parmesan pasta, and veggies.

We are going to gloss right over the debacle with the bad charcoal that would never light, necessitating informing me of his plans so that he could ask me for money to go to the store for good charcoal that would light; and we're going to ignore the part where he was playing with fire around that bad charcoal that would never light, which ended up in some asteroid sized sparks flying around with a smaller one landing on his favorite shorts, burning a little hole in them. We'll also turn a blind eye to the part where mom ended up texting dad with a picture of the grill, trying to make sure there was enough charcoal in there; there wasn't, so I added some. No, what we'll do is get straight to the end result.  A fabulously tasty meal of grilled salmon.

Perfectly grilled, I might add.