Acne, Attidudes and Weird Car Conversations

My ten year old is a little traumatized currently.  He has started breaking out with a little bit of acne.  My daughters began puberty at ten and I was assured by my husband that it takes boys a bit longer.  But the first signs are starting to arrive and I have to tell you I am a bit traumatized myself.

The question that popped into my head last evening was this:  acne and attitudes are they related?  When my girls were at my son's age they started getting a bit of an attitude with me.  Suddenly I didn't know everything.  I was just stupid mom.  As they have grown into teenagers apparently my IQ has lowered.  I was unaware that this was going to happen.  When they were younger I was brilliant.  I may not have had it all figured out or together but they thought I was smart.  Of course, I think that was mainly because I knew the words to the theme songs on their cartoons.  When they are little being able to sing Down By the Sea or I Love You, You Love Me is way cool.  Now they listen to music and half the time I can't make out what they are saying; and forget about knowing all of the artists because new ones are popping up all the time and I can't keep track of all of them.

This morning the conversation in the car was whether or not Madonna could have been Lady Gaga's mom.  Kid number two was trying to convince kid one that Lady Gaga came from Madonna's uterus.  Seriously?  That is the terminology she used.  She is currently in sex ed at school so she is learning more about the reproductive system and is ready to share.  Kid three seeing where the conversation was heading plugged into his headphones to watch a video in the car.  What was he watching?  Saved by the Bell.  So Kid one gets on the smart phone to look up their ages.  Kid two is discussing which kids Madonna gave birth to and who she didn't.  I am telling her to not use the word uterus in front of the ten year old.  Kid one gets back to us with their ages.  I said, "Madonna is not Lady Gaga's mom but she is old enough to be her mom."  Kid one says, "No way!"  I said, "Do the math if Madonna is 54 and Lady Gaga is 27."  She does the math and says that Madonna would have been 27 when she had Lady Gaga.  It is not unheard of.  I was thirty when I had my son.  These are the conversations we have in the car. 

Back to my boy.  He is a very laid back kind of kid.  He just goes with the flow.  He gets upset when the girls fight with each other or with me.  But here comes the acne and will the attitude follow?  I have discussed the girls with him.  I have told him that he is never to talk to me the way the girls talk to me.  He understands.  This weekend on one of our outings to get away from the tension and hormones of teenagers studying for finals, I told him that if he starts talking to me like that he will crush me.  He promised he would never go there.  I certainly hope so. 

I am curious as to what conversations we will have once his sisters are both gone to college.  I think our car is apparently the safe space for any conversation.  Those girls come up will all sorts of crazy things to talk about.  If it's not Madonna it's Gwyneth Paltrow or some other random celebrity or sometimes it's something else.  Currently everything with my son is about video games and camp.  He is excited to go to camp for the first time ever this summer.  Sometimes they talk about farts and sometimes I hear about recess.  What will he talk about later?  What do boys talk about when they get into puberty?  Girls?  So far he says, "Mom, I'm ten and in fourth grade.  I only like girls as friends.  I am too young to be worrying about a girlfriend."  How awesome is that?

It has been such a crazy busy year.  School is almost out and I am excited to see what summer brings.  In the meantime I will take any heads up as to what you think about the connection between acne and attitudes.  I'll keep you updated on the car conversations.  I am convinced our oddest conversations happen in the car.  Those may be my favorites.  It doesn't matter if they have acne or attitudes I suppose, I think the part I like best is that they find me worthy to talk to at all.  I love their imaginations and their curiosity.  From diapers to depends I will always love them and their weird conversations best.