Child #1:  Do you want to go outside?

Child #2:  I don’t think that’s a good idea.  My mom doesn’t like me being outside when no one’s home.

Child #1:  She don’t have to know.

Child #2:  But she might worry if she calls home and I don’t answer.

Child #1:  Take the phone outside.

Child #2:  No, I’m not going to do that.

That was a conversation between my 12 year-old, 7th grade son and his friend.  As you can tell by the title of this blog post, child #2 is my son.

On the days that I work, my son calls me as soon as he gets home.  When he called me a couple of days ago and told me the above conversation, I was angry at his friend, yet relieved that my son did not give in to peer pressure.

I guess I shouldn’t have been upset, I’ve always had the gut feeling that the other child was up to no good.  And my intuition was correct.

I taught my son at an early age about my door of communication.  He knows that he can talk to me about anything.  He often tells me a lot of nothing, or what the other kids at school are doing, but I’m good at filtering.  So you can imagine how happy I was to know that he did not give in, and disobey my rule of not leaving home.

There was not a door of communication in my family while I was growing up.  I am the second youngest of six children.  I couldn’t talk to my mother, brothers, or sisters about anything.  If I did, then the only thing that would happen would be gossip, and a lot of laughter behind my back .

My family doesn’t know that I was always talked about at school, how I jumped on a couple of kids at school when I got tired of them messing with me, and so on.  All they know is that I was a good kid that was on the honor roll, played sports, and was in the band.  They don’t know the pain and struggles I endured while growing up.

I refuse to let my children go down the path of loneliness, and eventually resentment, like I did.  I took my childhood negatives and turned them into positives.  Therefore, I will always be at my children sides for support.

The other day was only the beginning for my son.  I just hope that he continues to make the right decisions.  No one is perfect so I’m sure he’s going to get into some stuff (I know I did).

My son is not a mama’s boy.  But he is a good kid, and I am proud of him.