Just when you think...

Just when I think my kid is growing up too fast...

I mentioned a few posts back that Nathan, who is now Nate, has embraced puberty and the pseudomaturity of the middle-schooler. I sighed over his sudden interest in his personal grooming and his newly-honed fashion sense, and I chided myself for the need to check on him.

The next day, I did drive by his bus stop. Not because I was checking on him, but because my truck was pointed in that direction when I parked it the night before, and that's the way I had to drive to leave our neighborhood. Honest!! But since I was passing by, I thought I'd wave, suppressing the kid-embarrassing maternal urge to blow him a kiss.

When I looked for him, he wasn't there. Other kids were there, even his best friend Matthew. Oh, no! Panic set in.

So I did what any mother would do -- I rolled down the window and asked Matthew if he had seen Nate.

"Uh, yeah," Matthew said, "he's in the tree."

With my eyes I followed his pointing finger into the top branches of the corner tree, and saw my super-cool, hairgel using, newly matured son. "Hi, Mom!" he proudly called over the sound of rustling leaves.

Good, the little boy isn't gone after all!