Quiet

I know Christopher is headed toward puberty. He will eventually get there and all those changes I've heard about, read about and watched movies about will occur.

But I'm not ready. I still want him to be my little boy who still says "mama" every so sweetly when he is tired. I want him to still wave to me when he is around his friends. And, I want him to quite simply want to be with me.

All that requires us spending time together -- which is hard these days. Between football practice, taking care of the girls and just life, he and I sometimes say only a few words to each other.

Like tonight. He's been quiet in his room while I've been busy around the house getting things ready. I think that quiet thing is part of puberty, but is it also part of him still being my little boy. He's quiet that way -- can be by himself. He's always been able to do that. He can go into his room and draw or write or just sit and look around. I want that to continue, of course, because I like the quiet and so does my husband. But I don't want it to be quiet because he doesn't want to talk to me or because he doesn't want to be with me.

I like the quiet, but I don't know if the quiet will always be the right quiet.