Why Not All Phone Calls From Big Kids are Big Problems

There is a saying often quoted by parents of teens and yung adults: “Little kids, little problems, big kids, big problems.” It’s simplistic, yes, but it often feels true in the midst of encountering situations involving our lack of life experienced big kids.

So late one night, a text from my son threw me in to the assumptions that something uncomfortable was unfolding three hours away. As I checked my phone before settling under my covers for sleep, I saw my son’s text.

“Mom, are you still awake?”

A midnight message is late for him. But as a mom, there is no ignoring a text like that from your son. As my heart began racing, I dialed his number.

But the tone in his voice suprised me. It did not communinicate any sense of urgency. Instead, my son calmly asked a random unexpected question.

“Can you look at the photo I’m sending you? I took a picture of myself and need to attach it to me resume for class by tomorrow?”

Relief as well as amusement flooded through my body. There, on my phone, was a photo of him in dressy attire. The image, in need of a little correction, reminded me of the reality of this transition to adulting. Yet, in the midst of my sleepy processing of what needed helping and absorbing the bittersweet emotions of my son growing up, I thought to myself: When do you ever stop needing your mom?

I think back to my husband’s grandmother telling me as a mother of a toddler, that we never stop parenting. Yep.

Because, really, all of life involves encountering new to us situations. Who doesn’t welcome someone having our back even if it’s for something that appears as mundane as a resume photo?

I went back to sleep feeling the waves of peace wash over me, knowing that nothing catastrophic had taken place. And I embraced the reality that not all phone calls from big kids involve big problems.