L’adolescence

“The best substitute for experience is being 16”

Raymond Duncan.

I have often written about Charlie.

She is easy, loves the camera & the attention.

But today I got inspired by Alessio, when he walked out of the door, ready to go to school leaving me with a;

“You know what mum, sometimes you do get me”

16.

The first 5 years of his life, he was the “liveliest of the lively” and master of destruction from 3 to 6.

I could not go to a restaurant without Alessio jostling the place.

As he turned seven, so turned he.

The hyper- active days ended and my wild boy became a darling loving son.

Great years of exploring followed; he fell in love with the art of drawing & showed real talent.

At 10 he wrote & drew his first comic strip book that I safely keep in my “DO NOT TOUCH” box.

A happy youngster.

All he wanted was to draw & honestly, I was convinced it was his future laid out on a silver platter.

Then “puberty” came knocking on my door.

The pencils were thrown out, the drawing stopped & the music got louder.

Conversations became an optional, my studio, ( read “haven”) his new home & weekend trips an “I’d rather stay in Florence”.

Everything I thought to be right converted to wrong & all things improper passed for right.

The ” You just don’t understand me” “Leave me alone” “I am not interested” & the “That is ridiculous” rose to an all-time high.

Alessio’s world became his & his only.

No visitors allowed.

During that bumpy ride his voice became that of a man, his attitude fuzzy & from one day to another he grew to a record- breaking 1,90cm.

For supremacy my own height was always a plus but those heels clearly couldn’t secure me any longer.

I never felt so drained & helpless.

But at 16, dear parents of the future, things do get better…

Your teenagers will slowly but steadily come back to planet earth after skillfully breaking out of their hormonal shell & ending that oppressive road trip they’ve been on for so many years.

The conversations rejoinder, your opinion becomes valuable again,  the grades go up, the weekend trips more appealing, the music a little less loud & interactive family dinners pick up where they left off not so long ago.

Reborn.

Best friend.

And while Alessio is marching into adulthood I’m laying the groundwork for Charlie next year…

No worries, everything’s peachy…