Warning, this week’s post is rated M for mature; as in what happens to your kids after years of you trying to instill in them a sense of responsibility, respect for others, work ethic and just thinking before you jump into something.

The funny thing is it seems to happen all of a sudden. Like when you were trying to potty train your two year old. Just when you are about to pull your hair out, one day they just decide they are tired of pooping in their pants and they go to the bathroom. OK, so maybe they don’t quite make it onto the pot and they poop on the floor, but it’s clear they have grasped the concept.
Or, a sweeter memory; You've been trying to teach your three-year-old to read. One day you pass their bedroom and there they are sitting in the floor with a book you hadn’t read to them already in their lap and they’re reading it aloud. They might be adlibbing a bit, adding a little of their own flavor based on the picture they see on the page, but hey, they’ve got most of the words right. And, you are thrilled.

Well I’m here to tell you, it doesn’t stop there.

When they get into their teens they start doing things and saying things that are so mature, I swear it will make your head spin.

Jordan, the 14-year-old, is a night owl. It comes from years of him staying up late, way after he’d been ordered to bed, sneaking to read a book he can’t put down. But what that means is he can’t get up in the mornings. And when he does, he has got bags under his eyes the size of Samsonite luggage.

A few weeks ago he got an alarm clock. First few mornings when I got up at 7 a.m. there he was the covers pulled over his head, still in bed fast asleep. He missed the 7:20 a.m. bus and was late to school - I had to drive him. The alarm went off later that evening about 6 p.m.  I was about to pull my hair out. But the last few nights, he's made sure it was set properly. In bed by 10:30 p.m. up by 6 a.m.  Lately he’s been up before me, gotten his own breakfast and even packed his lunch a few times. By the time I make it up stairs, he’s dressed, fed and even his lizard is fed. And usually he’s reading until time to go catch the bus. I think he's got the hang of it. Very mature.

The other day I took Jordan to dinner and thought it would be a good opportunity for me to find out how he was feeling about his dad passing. He hadn’t really expressed himself about this at all and I was a bit concerned. So, I asked him.
“So tell me how are you feeling about your dad passing? Are you angry? Are you sad, depressed? What? And he looks at me as if that was the dumbest question in the world and says, “No, I’m just glad that he was here. And even more glad I got to be his son.”  Very mature.

Then there’s Trey. He’s 19 years old. He’ll be 20 in May.
I remember when he wore the baggy shirts and jeans, but never on the ground, that’s just ugly and not tolerable.  I remember too when he spent every penny he earned on sneakers, even though the 10 other pairs stacked in his closet were perfectly fine. Suddenly, I’ve noticed he’s wearing fitted jeans and button down shirts, vests and shoes not sneakers. Very mature.

  He came home from school for spring break last week. Instead of going with friends on some fun-filled trip to the mountains — his uncle has a great cabin in the Smokey Mountains — he called his old job at Price Chopper, where at his request they have kept him on the books, and asked to be put on the schedule.
Two days after he got home, he went to work. When I asked him why he wasn’t hanging out with his friends, he said, he wanted to earn a little extra money to help out with school. Very mature.

Listen those boys darn sure are no angels. Every once in a while they forget themselves — what my mama called getting too grown for your britches — and smart off.  they still spend way too much time playing video games, play their music too loud, and wrestle around the house, even knock things over, sometimes. But now they clean it up themselves, or promise to replace it with their own money.
I’d like to take credit for their sudden signs of maturity. But the reality is, it’s kind of like when they still pooped in their pants. Eventually they just get tired of being stinky and decide it’s time for a change.