5 Random Things I’ve Learned From My Teen Boys In The Last Year
I love being a dad. I have loved watching my kids grow up. Like most parents, though, there are some times when I would love to be able to rewind the clock to a time when they knew less and looked up more (because they are so tall now they barely have to look up to look me in the eye).
I came up with the idea for this article earlier this week on a walk around my neighborhood. I actually found myself chuckling out loud and thought it was worth sharing. But, as I began to craft the list of the 5 random things I have learned from my teen boys this last year, I realized that not everything I have learned from them is funny or light. In fact some of it is very serious. So, be prepared that this list starts off light, but ends on a serious note.
The First Thing
The first thing I learned from my teen boys in the last year is what caused me to chuckle out loud on my walk the other day. If you live in Colorado, especially at this time of the year, you know that going outside, even if the weather looks great at first or is cold at first, it will undoubtedly change. Think about it like going for a walk on the moon. At one minute you are freezing cold, and the next minute you are boiling hot. Because of this drastic change in temperature it is important to layer your clothing, which is what I did the other day. I started off with a long sleeve shirt, a fleece jacket, and a hoodie sweatshirt. At first, I was freezing, but once I reached the other side of the moon I began to boil with heat. So, I took off my sweatshirt and tied it around my waste. Thus the chuckle.
The last time I pulled this move of wearing my jacket around my waste, one of my sons pointed out that it looked ridiculous and shared with me a term for it I hadn’t heard up until then. I was wearing a sweatskirt. I laughed out loud when I heard it then and I chuckled out loud the other day when I realized I was once again wearing a sweatskirt. I’m not sure if that term has been around forever or if it a new one. Either way, I give my boys credit for teaching it to me.
The Second Thing
I’m sure it has been over a year since I learned what a meme is (which my boys taught me). Like many people above the millennial line, at first I was wrong about the pronunciation of the word meme. My first inclination was to pronounce it “me me” or “may may”. That’s of course not right, it’s pronounced “meam”, which of course you know.
My meme expertise grew within the last year as my boys introduced me to the terms “dank meme” and “fresh meme”. The simplest way to put it is that dank memes and fresh memes are funny. However, to date I still haven’t been able to identify a meme that I think is dank or fresh that my kids also believe is dank or fresh. Likewise, their dank memes are my head-scratchers.
I even went so far to try to create a dank meme (below), but I was quickly told that not only was it not dank, but that it was “pretty obvious, dad”.
So, I learned what dank memes and fresh memes are, but I still can’t identify them nor can I create them. Perhaps it’s a special filter that kids from Generation Z have that I just don’t possess.
The Third Thing
The third thing I learned is perhaps related to the the second thing. I learned that many of the things my boys think are hilarious, I don’t necessarily think are hilarious. For example, one thing that at least one of them thinks is funny are videos on YouTube featuring Gabe The Dog. Gabe is a little white yappy dog who barks along to all sort of songs. The first time I saw a video featuring Gabe The Dog, I just couldn’t relate.
Editor’s Note: I went back and watched a couple of Gabe The Dog videos on YouTube so I could add a little more color to this article and despite my best effort to remain a curmudgeon on the subject, I actually found myself holding back some giggles.
Speaking of dogs, did you know that the proper way to pronounce dog now is doge (sounds like doe and then a j sound). If that’s not a random thing my boys have taught me, then I don’t know what is.
The Fourth Thing
My kids, for the most part, are not in as big of hurry to grow up as I remember that I was at their ages. I pushed and broke through some boundaries earlier than I should have as a teenager, and I’m very grateful and proud that my kids, for the most part, have remained very level headed and age appropriate.
It really is a different time that kids are growing up in today. Technology plays a huge role, but I think we parent a little differently today than ours did. Perhaps we hold our kids a little closer because we know more about the dangers that are out there. Perhaps I’m imagining it? Regardless, my kids have taught me that just because I did something stupid doesn’t necessarily mean that they are bound to repeat my mistakes (but it doesn’t mean that I have stopped watching them and asking them lots of questions).
The Fifth Thing
The fifth thing is incredibly serious. While the fourth thing I learned is how impressed I have been with how they have stayed true to their age, the fifth thing has revealed how much they have been forced to deal with things that should be way beyond their age. We live in a community that has been horribly impacted by a string of teenage suicides over the last year. There have been 6 in our school alone in the last 13 months. How do you take that in and deal with that as a teenager when I know that we as parents struggle mightily with how to deal with it ourselves?
My wife and I do our best to talk with our kids about it and ask them about their feelings. We of course keep our radar on and alert to make sure they are doing OK. They open up to us about it a little bit, but it’s a really difficult subject for all of us to discuss. Despite it, they have appeared to stay strong, if not grow stronger as a result of these life-altering events. I’m hopeful that having to endure these experiences, and witness first hand how it affects the lives of so many, will make them more human. I’m hopeful it will make them more empathetic to others and that they will go out of their way to do something unsolicited and nice for someone everyday, because it could make all of the difference.
The fifth thing that I have learned is that my kids have had to grow up faster than they should, but mostly what that has taught me is that I love them more than ever.
