Teenagers & other animals!

First off, sod the other animals. This is about teenagers, well one in particular and my experiences in step-fatherhood so far. Words to describe it in the 7 short years I've been a step-dad? Hmmm, how about I just go through the vastly varied feelings and emotions I've experienced, sometimes in only the space of 24 hours....

Positives

Love, pride, joy, happiness, amusement, elation...

Negatives

Anger, worry, disgust, despair, disappointment...

...and those are just the ones that come to mind right now. It's emotionally (and financially) exhausting being a parent but it's something I chose to be part of when I met that lovely independent single mum Clare and her funny 7 year old boy Jake, and although the not-so little monster (now 14) winds us up to the absolute max half the time we wouldn't be without him.....would we Clare.....Clare? 😳

There he is trying his best to look cool. Daft chuff! Yup there's the cause of most of my moods both good and bad. He's a good kid really, typical teenage habits. You know, unable to tidy his room unless threatened by world war 3,4 & 5, owner of a horizontal wardrobe, forgets to flush the toilet, bites his nails after scratching his arse, bends the truth more than slightly when he feels the need... I could go on but I'd end up demonising the little git and that wouldn't really be accurate. He's FAR worse than that. I'm kidding. 😉👍

To be fair to Jakey he's a good'un and we've been really lucky he's turning out like he is. Some kids choose to make life so difficult when their parent finds a new partner. Jake could've chosen to make our lives hell when Clare & I got together but he and I hit it off well together from the start. Over the years as we've gotten more comfortable around each other we've just slipped into the father/son role. I think sometimes he forgets his role and bossy-arse tries his luck but I just put it down to hormones and learning social skills. I'd rather he make those mistakes with me and his mum than at school or in a real social situation where the wrong reaction could land him in trouble.

To his credit and ours he seems to do ok. He's popular within his own circle of friends and his interest in music and drama has really propelled him into the spotlight at school lately. He played the lead character Corey Palmer in the school performance of Back To The 80s recently and also performed with his band Devonshire Green in a couple of the school music shows. So proud!

Over the years he's tried a few things, his love of football has always been very high on his list and he played for a couple of the local teams in Sunday League but never really went as far as he wanted to. He won't admit it but I think deep down he knew he wasn't destined to be a footballer. 

When he took an interest in guitar we figured it might be another fad thing but we bought him a half decent electric and a 2nd hand acoustic to be going along with. You've got to encourage an interest haven't you. He tinkered about with it for a while and seemed to go back & forth with it for a few weeks but we weren't sure. Then after a few basic lessons at primary school he seemed to take to it a little better. Since going to secondary school and having access to their music facilities after hours he's improved so much and his music & drama teachers are thrilled, as are we. 

Who knows we may eventually see him on a big stage somewhere. Just as long as he doesn't end up in the 'big house' we'll be happy if he's happy. There's a few years to go yet. He's another 2 years off finishing secondary, then there's a few years of college and from there we'll try to guide him as much as he'll allow and then see what choices he makes. Jake always knows best, they all do at that age. I wish I knew as much now as he thinks he knows at 14 but at 37 I'm not cool and just 'old'. Cheers mate!