Something happens when a boy turns 13. The excitement of becoming a teenager must loosen a spring or two…or ten.

I hardly recognize this child, who only yesterday was the “Baby Wise” baby that did everything by the book. How did 13 years pass already?

Maybe it’s because there are three teenagers in this house now. Perhaps the equilibrium of non-chaos cannot be present in the midst of three teens.

But the other two didn’t seem to lose any springs when they turned 13. Maybe they will be late bloomers!

A loose spring produces, err…enhances a mouth that never stops talking. A loose spring guides the individual to do the most ridiculous things just to get a reaction. A loose spring causes severe forgetfulness when chores in any way, shape, or form are expected to be completed. A loose spring miraculously though, enables the teen to sit in front of a computer for hours on end, never tiring, and nary coming up for air, and only for a sandwich or potty break.

And the worst thing of all is that the loose spring can be thoroughly annoying, driving a mother to the edge of her sanity, wondering where to find a tool…any tool…to get that spring contained and back into the place where it belongs.

I am hopeful that time itself will fix the loose spring, because I know there is a nice young man in there, slowly finding his way out into the big wide world!