Good Talk

When your kids are little, it's easy to check off the developmental milestones.
Crawling...check.
First steps...check.
Potty training...check.
First lost tooth...check.
But as they get older, the changes are more subtle.  And more embarrassing to talk about.  It would be easy to just let it go and pray that the kid who still occasionally calls me "mommy" will magically avoid the complicated desires of young adulthood and keep his innocence even as his body morphs into Man.  But "easy" very rarely coincides with "parenting".
And so I found myself opening a conversation with Parker as he was standing in the kitchen waiting on his pizza to finish baking.
"I'd like to talk to you about some stuff.  And it's probably going to be embarrassing, but its important."
A light flush of pink began to creep up his neck, but he said ok.
I kept my eyes on my popcorn so as not to be intimidating, and asked him about his thoughts on facing certain temptations, and if he had a plan on how he might handle them.
To his credit, he took a deep breath...and answered me.
His blush went away and my eyes found their way back to his face and we had a nice conversation about the things he believes about himself and others...goals in life...hopes and dreams...and the very practical steps it would take to help him live out his beliefs and reach his goals.  The oven timer went off, but the conversation didn't end.  And over pizza we chatted about everything from sex to alcohol to peer pressure to relationships. The boy who answers texts with one-letter responses had a lot of surprisingly grown-up things to say.
When all that was left was pizza crumbs and a few popcorn kernels, Parker stood up and stretched.  But before he sauntered off to watch tv, he gave me a quick hug and said, "Good talk, Mom."
And it was.
This isn't the first time we've talked about things like sex and drugs.  And it won't be the last.  And that's the point...I want my children to be able to talk to me about whatever is happening in their lives, without giving any particular topic so much tight-lipped weight that it can't be lifted into words, silently crushing us before we acknowledge it.
So I'll listen.  And occasionally I'll bring it up.  And every talk may not be easy.
But any talk is Good.