My son called me at work today. I was in the middle of dismissing my adult learners. He knows i’m at work, and he never calls me during work. So i’m standing there my heart instantly skips a beat when I hear those words, “Mama you got a minute I need to talk to you about something.” I was in the middle of a crucial conversation with a new student. With adult learners you have about five minutes to convince them just how important it is that they come to class and obtain that oh so important HSE (formerly GED) degree. My head is spinning i’m trying to finish with this student, remind the other students about their assignments tomorrow, and get to my desk to call my son.
I don’t know why it is as parents we always imagine the worst. I started remembering past conversations in which my mother’s intuition told me that something was bothering him and he didn’t quite know how to come out with it. Well, I calmed myself, got to my desk and called him back. Before I go any further I need to mention that my son is twenty seven years old. He is a grown man that has been living on his own for over two years. Of course it wasn’t a life threatening emergency, for once in a lifetime he asked for my advice about a situation. I told me to let me think about it for a minute and I would get back to him.
The point i’m trying to make is: At what point does a parent stop feeling that tug at the heart strings when your child is in some kind of imagined trouble. I should mention that I am a single parent. It was me and my son for so many years. I trust that I did a pretty good job of raising him with the help of God and family, but he will alway be my little boy. I know I can’t fix his problems like I did when he was ten, but sometimes your heart doesn’t know that. We all just want whats best for our kids and for them to be happy.
Needless to say, when I thought about his problem and called him back he listened, said he would think about what I said, but he will decided what he needs to do. The truth of the matter is, he probably wont do anything I suggested and that’s Okay, but for a few minutes he still needed to hear my side of the story, and I go the chance to fell like I was important to my son again.
