Teenager in the house

I can hardly believe that Charlie is a teenager now!  He turned 13 on March 6, and that seems impossible.  I remember so clearly being pregnant with him.  The last couple of weeks before his birth, Chuck and I walked around our apartment complex every night hoping to get labor going because I was so uncomfortable with such a big baby in there!  I remember pacing up and down the walkway in front of our apartment trying to keep him calm when he was a fussy 3 week old.  It seems like yesterday that he was a toddler, getting into everything--making messes all over the house.  Then I blinked and now he's a teenager, and he's listening to his iPod, e-mailing his friends, tormenting his siblings, and telling me NO and WHY whenever I ask him to do something.  :) Charlie is 5'9" tall now, and he wears size 13 shoes.  He's still a great kid, and love him so much.  I am so proud of all the good things he does, and of the young man he is.   

It is a weird feeling to have a child that is taller than me.  Looking up into his eyes--especially when I'm scolding him--is kinda crazy.   I feel like I didn't sign up for this--teenager years.  I wanted a cute little newborn.  But they don't stay newborn, so what can you do?  You adapt, so that's what I'm working on.  I hate that I'm not all-powerful and all-wonderful anymore in his eyes.  I hate that I can't pick him up and hold him anymore.  But I can give him hugs, and I can give him advice, and I can talk to him every day and ask him about his life, and try to figure out how to be a parent of a teenager.  I'm so scared for the challenges ahead, but I know I gotta just love each day and be so thankful that I have been  blessed with this amazing child.  I love being his mother, and if it means being the mother of a teenager--I'll take it.