Oh my gosh, a teenager. What has changed for William in this past year between 12 and 13? Everything and nothing all at once. Puberty is certainly hitting hard. At least along with the teen acne, smelly feet, and moodiness, we’ve also added 4 inches of height and some serious muscle to show for it!
Shortly after turning 12, William showed an interest in doing some strength training and we started summer garage gym workouts. I thought it would last a couple weeks, especially from the amount of crying that was usually involved, but wouldn’t you know he continued to do his own home workouts all through the school year! William is still an early morning riser so working out before school was his jam. Exercise is becoming a really good outlet for him. I keep thinking one of these days the teen need for sleep will kick in, but so far not yet. William is also an accomplished skier, chess player, and math expert. He’s dabbling in some computer programming by designing his own video game and learning a lot.
Due to the teen hormones raging, William is also raging…but mostly against himself and inanimate objects…so I guess it could be worse. Phrases we hear often are “The _______ is bullying me”. You can pretty much insert anything you want into that blank as William has been bullied by the computer, the fridge, members of his family, pets, his backpack, and his own shoes. Currently the cake pan is his mortal enemy–specifically the metal cake pan lid, which he is convinced will be the end of him. “How can I succeed at life if I can’t get the lid off of this cake pan?”. Never a dull moment. He’s also doing his best to make Christopher his lackey. Christopher, being the nice guy he is, is happier to oblige than I’d prefer. It will be interesting to see how their dynamic evolves once Christopher has some teenage hormones of his own.
William continues to be a constant reminder that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. For better or for worse, his brain works a lot of the same ways mine does, which can lead to some head butting. Admittedly William is also the oldest child of two eldest children, so he doesn’t exactly have it easy as we all fumble ahead together. I often wish I could give him the cheat codes that come with maturity, but I’ve come to find some things you just have to live through and experience for yourself. Thankfully, William has an amazing group of friends to help him break out of his comfort zone from time to time, the kind of friends I didn’t find until I had made it into high school; Jack, Mason, Kai, Cedar, Davis, Julian, Owen–you are all the best.
Cheers to becoming an official teenager! We love you William
