Age 11. The boy turned 11 recently, and I just am a bit flummoxed by it. How did 11 arrive in my house? Not sure how I feel about this age of 11, an in-between, uncertain, mixed up time. It seems to be a time of silliness and gravity, a time of affection and attitude, a time of pushing and pulling.
Give it roller blades and it is a very happy age, that I do know (score for Granny).
Eleven is an age about friends, about passions, about sports. It is an age that has caught me unawares, unprepared. It is an age where the baby is really gone.
Welcome, 11. I’m just along for the ride.
Rocks, Waves, Beach 
happy birthday to bushboy!
and to you, dear mama of an amazing 11 year old i say, “bravo!” you are doing one superb job raising a thoughtful, kind, amazing, child.
By: melissa on March 17, 2011
at 3:46 pm
having just gone to an excellent talk by the author, I highly highly highly recommend: Uncommon Sense for Parents With Teenagers. I can’t tell you how much he talked about resonated with me and the spirit of how I think children should be raised: unstructured time, boundaries and allowing them to fail were big for me. And new to me; brain chemistry, the need for a 30 minute decompression time, the chemical/social reasons that dinner time is good. He also mentioned an empowering acronym he has so teens can do a self check: HALT… are you Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired. Anyway, I thought it was really good. His grad work was on best friend relationships w/11 year old boys so I think it would be great for you. :)
By: Kathy on March 17, 2011
at 4:32 pm
Happy Birthday (belated) Bushboy!!
By: Rachel on March 19, 2011
at 3:56 pm