The Future is Bright

Andrew's 14th.  Birthday!

I survived my teenage son’s birthday sleepover!  I don’t know how my mom did it back in the day with no electronic games to keep my brothers occupied.  I have nine brothers, all except one, are older than me.  To be sure, they were not all living at home at the same time and certainly by the time I came along most of them had left home.   However there were at least seven teenage boys at home at a given point in time and not just for a weekend.

So this is the thing, how did my mom not go totally insane?  And how did she feed them all because growing boys seem to want to eat every waking moment?  Not only that but they appear oblivious to picking up after themselves.  With a dishwasher steps away how difficult is it to simply put their glass or plate in it?

I know one thing, when I was younger we never had soft drinks or candies, that must have been half the battle in keeping my brothers sitting quietly reading most of the time.   And when they started to roughhouse the outdoors was their playhouse and their fun was limited only by their imagination.
 

I didn’t hear one boy ask about going outside once over this weekend. Although, when I sent them out to walk the dog they willingly obliged. Given a choice they would gladly play Xbox hours on end.  The only breaks would be to grab a snack, a meal, and to go to the washroom.  Even sleeping was secondary. But I didn’t think that was such a good idea so we had a number of breaks throughout the weekend to do keep them moving more than their thumbs.

What I enjoyed about this group of teenagers is that they were amiable to turning off the electronic game when I asked them without resisting me.  They were polite and well mannered.  Over all this birthday party and so much easier than when Andrew was younger.
 

I particularly enjoyed it when we were all sitting at the dinning-room table together.  Listening to the conversation of teenage boys, and the way they view their world, none with the same perspective, all were quick to have their opinions heard, was entertaining.   As I observed them I wondered where they would be in five years.  I have no doubt they are on their way to greatness in some way or another.
 

Like my brothers, teenagers no matter in what time period, view their world with optimism and clarity that only the young can.  The future is waiting for them to make their imprint on civilization.