on the turning away
my son is turning away from me. has turned, i guess. this has been going on for some time now. it’s really kind of done.
if you’ve been reading this blog from the beginning, this is the same son i used to carry around Prospect Park in a baby backpack, when i dictated the Green Street Hooligans screenplay, back in 2002. his name is owen. he’s 14 now. he just started his freshman year of high school.
when i say he’s turning away from me, it may sound a bit more dramatic than i mean it to. he hasn’t turned against me. (yet.) i’m just talking about his physical posture. he doesn’t face me anymore when we sit with each other. he sort of corkscrews away. most of the time he’s in his phone. but even when he isn’t, he’s kind of points himself towards two o’clock, eyes averted. when we hug now, i get the bone of his shoulder.
i’ve been wondering lately if this is such a bad thing.
Owner at Ronin Security Solutions, LLC
8 年Josh, This was perfectly timed read for me. As Will dived head first into high school, I have mixed emotions that range from annoyed (by his disengaged persona towards me) to pure pride (that he's beginning to navigate on his own, without my help).We are all in this parenting scene together now, and your passage put into words my tug-of-war of emotions. I "turned away" at an early age, and the fact my parents allowed this without a fight makes me love them even more. Let's promise to let them fail. Let them figure out who they are without judgement. Let them come back from the dark side of teenage ambivalence and love us even more for giving them the tools to make it. CHEERS!