The Family (Or most of them)

The Family (Or most of them)
The Family

October 1, 2007

High School and stuff

MY SON ASKED IF HE COULD BORROW MY CAMERA.

He wanted to take pictures of one of his female friends -- one of his best bud's girlfriends -- playing soccer, or as the other-worlders call it in the great beyond, football.

Of course I said yes.

But as the pictures he and his friends took below suggest, and this is absolutely no surprise to me, 15-year-old boys may think they're turning into men but they're still boys, no matter how you look at it.

If they ever become men, it probably won't be until they're 30, if they're lucky.

Sure, he hooked up with his first "high-school" girlfriend in the first week.

She was a cute little thing, but I think far more than his tiny male brain, which probably contains about eight cells, could handle, control or otherwise with all those hormones hogging the spotlight.

They split after two days, I think, a record even in my books and estimation, because she was kind of playing him against one of his best friends, it appears. His head, as is often the case, exploded.

Friend or girl? Friend or girl?

I'm glad and proud of him that he chose friend. He has school to adjust to, and that's one thing. A girl that's going to drive him crazy? Uh-uh.

When he first told me about her, it was like, "Dad, I've never felt this way before about a girl. She's beautiful."

"Slow down," I told him before I drove them to their first movie together. "Things may not be what they seem to be."

Two days later, I would find out after the fact, they were history. He's single again, at least last time I heard.

Anyway, he seems fine now, back with his buds, and isn't that right for the Hill of Hormones that he is? So he took my camera. And this is what he and some of his friends saw and captured.

It doesn't surprise me one bit that the guys ended up on the swings and monkey bars and all that while the game wore on...




























One final note to his first couple of weeks of high school.
The school is just a 5-minute walk from my apartment.
Well guess who hasn't been showing up here and eating me out of house and home while I'm at work and he's on a spare. And with at least one of his friends in tow.
They eat and eat and eat. Then they eat some more.
I've been filling up on goopy microwave fast food thingies like pizza and pasta, you know, those pre-packaged things that cost about $3 or $4 each.
Two apiece, they've been having. That's $12-$14 a day. And they've been eating my cold-cuts and anything else that's edible, if they can figure out how to cook it or slice it and dice it.
I love that he's coming here, despite the mess he leaves.
But I think I'M the one who's cooked.

19 comments:

  1. Not sure why I'm visiting as it's just like my every day here in the land of teenage boys and hormones.

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  2. Hi W.W.! Your son's photos are lots of fun -- the last one totally made me laugh. And it's amazing how much teenagers can eat -- they never get full! You really captured the complexities of their relationships, too. My niece just started high school and all this sounds very familiar! I hope you have a great week.
    :)

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  3. they pass through the house like locusts - and they don't have to be boys to do that believe me - I bet yours don't then complain they're fat and blame you!

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  4. The poor little dears would starve at my house.Unless they raided the pantry for canned dolmades, tapenade, cook-it-first pasta.But I'd love them to help me out on the !**%#! bananas. Please?

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  5. Is that him in that first picture? If it is, holy crap has he ever changed!!! He looks so much more like a man (well, as manly as a teen can possibly look anyway) than he did in the last pics you posted of him!

    Maybe you should only keep healthy foods in the house. Nah... nevermind... you obviously love that he comes over, even if he is eating every morsel of food in the fridge and pantry. :)

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  6. LOL boys on the prowl ha! did ur camera make it home in one piece?

    Keshi.

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  7. I remember how much my brother used to eat when he was a teenager. He's 20 years old now but still eats like he's never been fed.

    It was great looking at the pics your son took. :D

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  8. Anonymous4:19 a.m.

    So you are back blogging? Rested your tired brain? Dod you paint the town green as you promised?

    But of course your son is only 14. Boys that age are always boys.

    Actually boys never grow up. Look at you!!

    "grin"

    PS: Welcome back!

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  9. Just keep reminding him that this is the LAST period in his life, assuming that he will not be playing professional sports, joining the military, or blogging, that he will be immersed in a clan of camaraderie.

    The wicked combination of hornymones, hunger, and hairstyles, is a perplexing state of affairs to us adults but remember back then how everything had that END OF THE WORLD aspect to it?

    The peer pressure and self actualization process completely overwhelms all of the struggling common sense/practical atoms in their still forming brains. How our species ever survived is a miracle?

    As a measure to counteract all of this tomfoolery, Nature has instituted a set of behavior modifications in parents that make us love and protect our 'genes'.

    This evolutionary patch stops us from behaving normally and chasing them off with a broom, and instead, let's us laugh and shake our heads.

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  10. Andrea:

    Yeah, I gotcha. But you've got at least one more guy, don't you?

    The Harmony of Hormones, indeed.

    Here, we have to live with the over-developed sense of reason and maturity of my 19-year-old daughter.

    So I don't mind when my son and I can get together and let 'er rip, eating potato chips, peanuts, watching Family Guy and having farting contests.

    Clare:

    Hi back! The last one is of a guy nicknamed Kiwi, he's quite a character, as you can tell.

    I feed my son, when I'm here, about every 39.3 seconds. I'm the neighborhood "go-to" dad.

    Ziggi:

    Locusts is apropos, I would agree. But I'd say it IS more a guy thing, in my experience.

    My son only complains about all the pimples he has and blames it on me...

    Dinahmow:

    I'm going to have to find out what dolmades and tapenade are. My kids use bananas for their whatchamacallits, those fruit drinks they make in the blender...

    But I'll send 'em down under to help you with those bananas...

    Anna:

    Yep, that's him, he's getting tall and more physically mature, but wait til he fills out...

    I can't remember the last pix I posted of him, but he got his hair cut, for which I'm eternally grateful...

    I DO love that he comes over. I give him the usual speech about healthy foods, but then I remember what I ate as a teenager...

    Keshi:

    Yep, I was amazed I actually got my camera back in one piece! Boyz on the prowl is right...

    Menchie:

    Yeah, the pix he and his buds took were OK, weren't they? I remember as a kid I could (and did) eat a whole spice cake with fudge icing, all by myself.

    My grandmother (who lived with us) gave me supreme sh*t, but I know she was smiling inside...

    Gautami:

    No, I just painted myself green. I'm not sure I'd say I'm back or not, I just did a post because I had something to post about.

    My son's 15, actually, about to turn 16 at the end of November. But I agree boys are always boys.

    And I WOULD second your motion that I've never grown up either, but that's why you ladies love us...

    HE:

    Is this the blog post you've been wanting to write but haven't?

    You're completely correct, of course. I love the Clan of Camaraderie I see him immersed in.

    That's why I tell him he can always bring his friends here.

    You're right about the utter confusion he's in, but he's also in that "I'm indestructible" thing too. I pine for those days sometimes.

    The funny thing is he doesn't have a clue about any of it. He's just living it. And that is cool.

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  11. Good to see you posting again! Your son sounds like a typical teenage boy. Nothing but food and girls on his mind. :-)

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  12. This post took me back to those wonderful, crazy days of teenagerhood (Yeah, it's been a while)! Your son is a cutie, but then look at half of his gene pool! That last thing is flattery, ok?

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  13. I love when my nephew calls me with "chick probs". He once woke me at 3 am with a collect call from England. I called him right back and we (he) talked until 5am. The next week he'd forgotten all about that one and was on to the next, lol.

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  14. ww, this was such a cool post! i love how he comes to your place- even if he is eating you out of house and home!!!
    so does he know you posted the pictures he took... or is it revenge for them eating your cold cuts?

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  15. Laurie:

    Yeah, thanks.

    Food and girls, girls and food...where does school come in there, that's what I'm trying to get him to take a glance at...

    Carm:

    Thanks for that...he's also got my traits for putting things off, among other things.

    But he's a good guy, if definitely a work in progress (aren't we all, even now?)

    I like that Carmword, teenagerhood.

    Bibi:

    Ha! Pretty expensive two hours of talking with bleary eyes only to find out he was startin' from scratch, huh?

    Angel:

    Thanks. He saw the entire post yesterday when he dropped over from school again while I was home working.

    On the menu? Taco bites, microwaveable beef stroganoff thingies, plus other stuff...

    Then last night, I drove him and some buds to see Transformers and waited for 20 minutes because he gave me the wrong time for when the movie was ending...

    Grrrrrrrr....

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  16. Anonymous7:08 p.m.

    Gotta love teenage boys! My son almost hoodwinked me to buy Grand Theft Auto and Vice City until the guy in the shop told me about the violence etc which they contained. Now hes having a teenage sulk!
    Aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhh!

    Laura

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  17. Laura:

    Teens sulk at times, it's what they do. My guy is into a pitching mode lately.

    He wants to take guitar lessons as well as singing lessons. And he wants an electric guitar.

    That was yesterday's pitch.

    Today's was he wants to go on a five-month student exchange trip to Japan, China or Germany or some other remote locale.

    Cost: $8,000.

    Doh!

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  18. Anonymous5:59 p.m.

    I so hear you!!!!!!!!!! Just feels like hes being very demanding and suddenly more self centred than usual.

    Laura

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  19. Laura:

    Yeah, well, boo-hoo to them. Part of the whole process is them (teens) realizing it's not all about them.

    Cue the Stones:

    "You Can't Always Get What You Want."

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