You Stay

 

Here’s the thing…when your middle schooler usually wants nothing to do with you, hardly shares anything with you, certainly does what he can to avoid being seen with you…will rarely give you a hug or a smile…

And then when you go to check on him in the basement and he’s playing video games and he wants to show you ALL the things…YOU STAY. And you listen. No matter what. Even if you are feeling ALL the boredom and confusion because you don’t understand the game. Even if you are thinking of a million other things you should be doing at that very moment…It doesn’t matter. YOU STAY.

Because those 10 minutes might just be the most precious 10 minutes you’ve had in months. And they may not happen again, for another several months. So YOU STAY.

And so even if the dogs are whining and want to go outside. YOU STAY.

And when your kid senses you might be bored, and says, “Sorry…I’m wasting your time,” and your heart breaks into a thousand tiny pieces because you wonder how many times your facial expression and body language have given him that message. YOU STAY.

And you ask questions.

“What happens when you wear the jetpack?”

“Can you drive any vehicle you find?”

“How do you know where to go and what to do?”

“What are those small glowing things in the grass. Do they give you power?”

“What’s that giant circle thing in the sky?”

“If you crash your vehicle, do you loose a life?”

And so on.

You ask, and you smile, and you light up your eyes and turn your body towards him and think of ALL the things you can ask, just so it will last a little longer.

And you sit down and call the dogs over and you rub their bellies, hoping they’ll be distracted for awhile.

And you ask more questions.

Until he says, “Okay…that’s all. You can let the dogs out now. I just wanted to show you some things on here.” And he smiles.

And your heart simultaneously melts and explodes…because he smiled at you and feels loved. And so do you.

Because…YOU STAYED.