Sunday, March 30, 2008

Sunday Night Special

Well, my teenager acted like a teenager tonight for the first real time. I took all the kids (except for Conor, who stayed home with Dad) to the Spring Concert of the Foothill Women's Chorus at the church tonight. They were performing the Vivaldi Gloria, and there were some other smaller musical performances as well, including a cello orchestra that about knocked my socks off. Most of the cellists were under the age of 14 and have been playing since they were teeny-tiny. It was incredible. One of the perks of living in the Los Angeles area is the abundance of amazing talent we have in our wards and stakes.

Anyway, with promises of refreshments to follow, I had the kids get back into Sunday clothes at 6:30 to go to the Stake Center. Lyndsay called her friend Katie to come with us, so her mom dropped her off and she drove up with us. As we're walking up to the building, Lyns, (who acts more than a shade differently when her teenage friends are around) asks if she and Katie can sit by themselves somewhere else in the chapel.

"You don't want to sit with us? With me?"

"C'mon, Mom."

"No."

(now she adds her cutesy little 'I'm so innocent' thing to her voice, and tilts her head just so.) And I repeat, "No. We sit with our families. What, do I embarrass you or something, cause I'm pretty darn cool."

"No, Mom, it's not that."

"The boys, then? Is it the boys? Just sit on the other side of me from the boys."

"M-om. Please?"

I stop walking now, and turn around to face her. "I only have so many years of sitting with you left. You will sit with me, and you will love it." I start to resume walking, and then throw over my shoulder, "Besides, children who don't want to sit with their parents are children who have something naughty up their sleeves. I remember. I was a child once." And I catch her eye for just a second with a little wink in her direction.

After we're seated, with the boys separated on either sides of the bench, Lyns leans over to me. She has no choice but to let the cat out of the bag now that her plan has been foiled. "Um, Mom? Ethan's going to be here in just a few minutes to sit with us, okay? His mom is dropping him off. Katie texted him from the car and told him to come."

Oh, I see. The Truth comes out.

Well, you gotta get up pretty early, my darling daughter. Pretty early, indeed.

When Ethan arrived, I greeted him, and sat his 15 year old self right down next to me, several bodies away from my not-even-14 year-old Lyndsay. I was glad he was there. While we waited for the music to begin I taught him to identify all the flowers in the floral bouquets, all the instruments in the orchestra, that Vivaldi's first name was Antonio, and how to translate some of the Latin titles of the pieces being performed. After all, I knew he must have been interested in classical music to have his mom drive him all the way down to the Stake Center on a moment's notice.

I did, however, let him eat a cookie next to Lyndsay and Katie. Wanna know what's even funnier than watching self-conscious teens eating in front of each other? Watching self-conscious teens with braces eating in front of each other! A good time for all. And some great music with a little culture to boot!

24 comments:

Sue said...

hehehe, you handled this well!

Unknown said...

good morning jenna,
i gotta run out the door right now but wanted to stop by and tell you morning real quick. i will be back to give your blog the proper read later.

hope your day is great, kathleen xo

Anonymous said...

Reading this reminds me of how grateful I am not to be a teen anymore.

Heather S. said...

Oh, that's so funny. I see I have soo many fun things to look forward to. What a great way to handle it.

Laurie said...

You are such an awesome mother, especially to know all that great stuff to teach Mr. Ethan. I'm sure he was thinking he had the best seat in the room. I have a couple more years until braces but from the lookds of things, all my children will get the pleasure of entertaining me!

Lesley said...

Gosh I love teenagers! They think they're so sly, but they're so transparent! I love the part about the braces. Too funny!

Sarah said...

Awww.....the good ol' days of being a teen! How fun and exciting for you both! I'm just grateful it was you and not me. I do dread those days. Although, if my girls take after me, they will be too shy and instead of trying to make any kind of impression, they'll just act like silly little girls whenever boys are around. I can hope for that, right?

Misty said...

Jenna, you rock! :)

Angela said...

Jenna - Thanks for the post on my blog.. i am not ignoring you just busy. I will try to email you later today with more details.

Great post! I love teenagers and you handled that perfectly! You have a great way of handling your kids! You are a great mom!

Anonymous said...

ugh, I don't like the idea of my kids growing up...guess it's inevitable.

Luisa Perkins said...

You are so AWESOME.

Julie Wright said...

oh that is great!!! Absolutely love it! You are one cute mommy!

anjmae said...

YES!!!! I love those lovely, entertaining, and oh, so-glad-I-am-on-this-side-of-teenagerhood moments! These are the times when our teenagers are reminded that we really DO know EVERYTHING! tee hee, good job!

Shellie said...

Ooo, it's so fun to be on the other side of this adolescence thing, isn't it? I left you an award over on my blog little-but-loud.blogspot.com

Lori said...

Hey niece of mine! I'm sure glad that I'm through with raising teenagers , although I must say that you are way beyond me in wisdom. Although I knew my kids had "something" up their sleeves, I didn't think it was any big deal and I was occasionally wrong about that. When it was something serious, I didn't use humor like you, I put my stern Italian face on and would usually say something like, "because I said so"! On top of all of this, you're soooooo darned funny about it! How can Lindsay ever fault you for being so smart when you're so funny doing it?! I love you! I'm just so sad that I don't live closer so you can throw some of that wisdom and humor my way when I need it! Aunt Lori

Unknown said...

hi jenna -- i love what you did. hilarious. good job. kathleen

Megan said...

Cute blog! (We've been friends with Adam for many years.) :)

piper said...

How long did it take you to type and organize that amazing post so well?? Wow, you did great!!

I've said it before, you are the coolest and best Mom ever!!

You did it right :)

Tara R. said...

The fun has just begun.... my oldest will be 19 this summer and will be moving into her first apartment this fall when she returns to college. You did handle all that very nicely. =)

Unknown said...

You slay me. That was hysterical.

Laski said...

Wow--you are too good. I'm certain it was your vast knowledge he was interested in (and not your sweet darling thirteen-year-old. Hee hee . . .

Momo Fali said...

Nice!!! Good work!

BusyDad said...

As a former 15 year-old boy with braces, I have to say you had me plenty squirming!

Tristi Pinkston said...

What a wise mother you are!

And I loved the post about your son and the leaves. What a special relationship that is.