Hi Friend,
I'm a little late, but hope to help anyway.
I am called the Famous Jeff's Mom becaused I was the mother who fed, drove, fed some more, and gave incentives the boys didn't even realize. I raised an only child, Jeffrey, as a single mom. I recieved my nickname in a peculiar way: The boys always called me "Jeff's mom" to be funny, cute, awnry, etc. One day, I met a mom for the first time, and she said "So, you're the famous jeff's mom." And it stuck.
My son and his friends loved to skateboard, and even dressed in anything too big, too black, too old, and too ugly for too long. But one day he showed up at the dinner table with a light blue shirt - it even had buttons - and he had gotten a hair cut. Well, I don't have to tell you my jaw dropped open.
He, too, hated his freshman year. Had trouble, felt like a big zit on the face of school, like the world would end if he had to keep going. Entering his junior year, he had the credits of a freshman. Oh, yes, there was work to be done. He decided to go to summer school that summer, and ended graduating with his class on time.
But no matter what, I was there. To keep an eye on them, I was the driver. No matter where, what for, or/especially to parties, etc, I drove them there, and picked them up. Be there. I would leave a A B.I.L.Y. buck for each boy on the table to come home from school to(Because I Love You buck.). Use a bily buck for everything from coming home from school to doing homework, to chores. A young boy will do anything for a buck to get a soda. I would fix snacks to keep them from going somewhere. I was famous for fixing cakes, and leaving them on the table with 5 forks in it just for them.
My boy is now 25 years old, and has a good career as a virtual machine engineer at Microsoft in Seattle, Washington. He lives with his girlfriend of 9 years. They are waiting to get married before having kids.
My moral of the story is, Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is older, he will not depart from it. That comes from Proverbs 22:6. And it's true. My son was many things, but turned out to be a well balanced young man (and he can pass a pee test!). :)
Hang in there, Friend, and remember to be there, even if you're shocked, and prove to him everything is going to be alright.
I hope I helped.
Love, T. the Great,
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