Watching my Grandchildren hit Adolescence

Right now, I am watching two of my grandchildren move from being a kid to awkwardly moving into the adolescent stage. It’s an odd feeling. One minute I will be talking to my oldest grandson, who is 12-years-old, and he will be saying something to me about his Blog in his kid’s voice and the next moment his voice will crack and change into a deeper adolescent voice.

My eyes will widen and I will look at him wondering, what the heck just happened? Whose voice is that? I know it’s my grandson speaking. There is no doubt in my mind that the next time I call his house, and he answers the phone, I won’t have to ask if this is my daughter-in-law speaking.

Not only is his voice changing but I can see some wisps of hair growing above his upper lip, below his nose. I see it but don’t want to believe it. I hate the thought of seeing this carefree, innocent kid, turn into a neurotic adolescent with all the guilt ridden problems that goes along with the territory. That free little kid will be gone and something else will occupy his body, like some other demon.

With this change, I fear that my grandson won’t let me near him, or hug him, or talk to him about sports and writing, or won’t want to even be seen with me in public. Being a new adolescent being does funny things to little people, you know? No more, “Grandma, can you come up into my room? I want to show you something.”

Then there is my granddaughter who is also 12-years-old. She and her cousin will turn 13 in May. I remember fondly dubbing her the ‘the little nerd.’ She has always been a cute kid with long blond hair and pretty blue eyes. She dresses in her own style – long pants, a cool t-shirt with a vest, or in running shorts with a matching top and stylish athletic shoes.  And she always wears a hat. She loves Fedoras; any kind, any style, any color will do. She loves to read and the thicker the book, the better. The more unusual the book, which is even better. My granddaughter loves playing soccer, wears glasses, and plays the violin. She is her own person.

Now she is sporting some mild and random zits on her fair skin. She has the other symptoms that come with being an adolescent girl. Along with being at an awkward stage; she is in that stage that hovers between being a carefree, happy go lucky little girl to a pre-teen with all those hormones creating havoc inside and out.

My grandson and granddaughter used to be buddies and I wonder if this new stage will change that relationship? Will it change the silly banter that they used to share with one another and with me? I hope not but then, I will make sure that it doesn’t just by staying closely connected to them.

All in all – that adolescent stage is here to stay and I in my bittersweet stage will watch my grandchildren enter it and try to navigate that strange state of growing up. Nothing is as simple and life isn’t always that easy.