The Fast Lane...

When did it happen?
Was it a slow gradual thing?
Did it happen overnight?
Did it happen when his mission call arrived?
Or was it a slow moving event?
Did it happen when we noticed him getting out of bed and going to early morning college classes-all on his own volition?
Was it when we noticed that he'd put himself to bed at night at reasonable hours?
Was it when I began picturing him as a medical student and 'wanna be' doctor?
Or was it simply when he started taking out the trash without being ask?
Could his choice of friends have played a role?

When did it become natural and not at all uncomfortable to sit and watch a show with Clark, even when it dealt with 'grown-up' subject matter?
When did I loose the urge to switch the channel or make some 'cute' remark about how bad the world has become, or that there is nothing sacred left that Hollywood hasn't touched upon? (which of course is a true statement)
Sure the world IS going to hell in a hand basket.
And it is indeed a little bittersweet that Clark seems to have arrived at that point in life where its 'acceptable' to acknowledge the grossness in life.

Clark gets it!!
Clark knows it!!
He's going to be one that's going to give it his best to do something better.

I'm really unclear when it was exactly that he "crossed over' to adulthood.
As a matter of fact, I'm sure I have been deluding myself, as most moms do, for quite some time on what my kids know, and WHEN they knew it. But that's what parents do I suppose. We live in denial for a large part of the teenage years, wishing and hoping that our kids could be oblivious and untouched by the rankness of this world. But I know I wasn't untouched or fooled or oblivious at that age. And I know that my kids are no exception.

I guess what it is I am enjoying now is that stage in life where I can be honest about it, and can admit that the crassness exists. This doesn't mean I'm embracing the morals of the world, just acknowledging its existence.
So, when those rare occasions occur, where we have Clark in our midst, its nice to be grown-ups together. Finally!!!
For further, interesting opinions on parenting "skills" click HERE.