The Impossible: Turning 13

My family has returned from their grand adventure in Japan. They played the "stand-by" game, came home, ate some dinner and voila, it was as if they had never been gone.

Don't most people at least have a little jet lag? Nope. Not this group. Do the laundry, unpack the presents you brought home, catch up on facebook and there ya go, all settled back in.

I walked into the kitchen yesterday to find a huge pile of dishes, and food and spilled recycling. Oh, thank God! My family is home! We're back to normal operating procedures! Life is so good. I happily tidied up, and only yelled at them to take care of their own messes a little bit.

Yesterday our youngest became a teenager, turning 13 which is impossible because he was only born six months ago, after all. But somehow he's managed it. He tried to play angsty teenager, but cracked up every time he tried to sulk. OBNOXIOUS teenager he's got down pretty well, but angsty; not this one. He's too darn cute.

I grew up with no siblings in the house; my brothers being much, much older than I am, so I've always been concerned about how my children fight; pulling out every nasty punch and cutting remark against their own brothers. But yesterday, even after a little too much togetherness for a week in Asia and traveling, I saw an amazing thing. The older teenagers were kind, even sweet to their little brother. There were video games chosen by the youngest, specific favorite episodes of "Friends" and even a date cut short for a birthday dinner. Wow. They love each other. They really do. Amazing. They drove home together from our dinner out, picking up the ice cream cake on the way home. They are becoming men.

Hold on, I may have to lie down for a minute here. Men. Oh my gosh.

But the good news, aside from a momentary thought that I could squeeze in one quick trip to see friends in Minnesota, quickly abandoned because, hello? FAMILY NEEDS AS SCHOOL STARTS ARE HUGE, not to mention the fact that my job takes exactly 40 billion hours a week in late August and September; I think I'll keep on living with my family, with my husband, with all of our ugly past and our hurts and our different races and our profoundly different learning styles and working styles and way of being in the world. No running for the cellar, no twister is coming. Or if there is a tornado, well then; bring it on. We've survived worse.

Cliche, I know. But hey, Life is Good. Life is really good. Too true, too true.