Y es, age thirteen is all that "they” say it is! That is the age when your friendly youngster withdraws into his cocoon to develop into his own individual self. I had read some about teenagers and wondered when it would come about. I suppose I thought that sud denly my son would be a teenager. Now as I look back on this thir teenth year that is almost to merge with year fourteen, it seems almost as if it were that sudden. My son is truly a young man today — a teenager in the prime of his youth. His voice has deepened; he is slim and muscular and handsome. He has gone through the maturing process sometime during this year. I would have liked to help him, but growing up is done all alone. When the first tooth came out, it was a family affair. But when the voice started to deepen and "grow ing up” began, he did not run and announce, "Guess what, Mom, my voice is getting deeper today. I must be growing up.” It sounds rather ridiculous, doesn’t it? Growing up must be lonely. Oh, he could have run and shared those personal things! But that is a part of growing up— having some things too personal to share with anyone. It was not really that sudden though; it was somewhat long and drawn-out and painful. I believe that my teenager is a normal, typical young man. He is neither too good nor too bad. He is not a juvenile delinquent, but someone go ing through the normal process of be coming a teenager. He is also a Christian and has been since he was very young. His experience speaks of the fact that Christian teenagers also go through some difficulties; but their prob lems are slightly different from those not reared in Christian fami lies. He is the oldest child in a fami ly of four children — a brother and two sisters. I believe that he is very fortunate, but some of his difficult days were “blown out of propor tion” by these siblings. He will benefit greatly in having to take
part in the give-and-take of shar ing with several family members. At times he sees others who have more than he and remarks that he would have more if he were the only one. That certainly is true ma terially, but I do not believe he would trade places with the “only child.” He noticed friends who had rooms of their own and would say how “ lucky” they were. Through the first half of my son’s thirteenth year he had to share a room with his six-year-old brother. Now the “books” say that six years old is the worst of the brat stage. Think of it — two of the worst stages rooming together! It is rath er humorous as I reflect on it; but it was not funny then. The six-year- old was whiny, “ultra” messy, and the “slowest person alive." It seems
as if he were responsible for break ing every prized model that my thir- teen-year-old made. The six-year- old had slowly changed from the little baby brother that had been longed for and delighted in to just a “brat.” Of course this brat stage passed too — but that is another story. I became completely convinced of the fact that a thirteen-year-old needs a room all his own if at all possible. We were building a new house in the midst of this slightly less than amusing crisis. Each day I would tolerate the six-year-old's mess and urge Mr. Thirteen to be patient; he would have his own room soon. Actually I lived for the day when I could separate them. It was a great day when we moved into the brand-new home
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THE KING’S BUSINESS
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