Lectures & Fun from My Son

"What are all those tabs, Mom?"

I sat on the edge of the mattress with my laptop open on a tray table before me, while my lanky fourteen-year old sprawled legs, arms and elbows across the bed behind me. He craned his neck over my shoulder and asked his question. Too impatient to wait for my answer, he grabbed the mouse and began to click away.

"What's this? And this?" Three consecutive tabs were from the CollegeBoard site where I had been experiencing frustration for several days as I attempted to register my daughter for her SATs in Santiago.

Next were tabs from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. "And this?" I explained that I was trying to figure out a way for his sister to get a driver's license when she returned to the States for college.

He clicked on an Amazon tab. "What's this book about?" It was a Bible study on confronting cancer, a tender subject newly awakened by news from friend. 

Obviously, my tabs were lacking in excitement for him. 

Giving up on his investigation, he turned to me and lectured. "Mom, you have nothing fun on here! No wonder you are always so stressed."  (Well, Son, this is called working. And "adulting." And real life when you're a parent and grown up.)

It wasn't until much later after I had left the room and returned, that I found a brand-new opened tab on the laptop. At first I was puzzled, seeing nothing but a fresh home page. Then I looked up to where the url code should be. Typed in youthful enthusiasm (read: ALL CAPS) and spattered misspellings were the insistent words: "MOMMY DO SOMETHING FUN!"

So I did. I laughed. My heart swelled with humor and hope for a boy who wants happiness for those around him. May he learn to fuse fun with responsibility and never stop enjoying the life God has given him! And I will try to do the same.