Some days I really do find it difficult to accept that I’m a Mum to a 16 year old.  It’s not the number of years that’s passed as such.  I look at this 6’1/2 foot young adult and I can’t help but see all the years that have gone before him.  Having the Princess makes me look back more than before she arrived, without a doubt.  I find myself saying ‘When you were that age….’ annoyingly frequently.  I have to remind myself from time to time he’s grown way past that, for the sake of our relationship!

 

It did dawn on me though that I just don’t write about my teen enough.  He does feature here on my blog, but not nearly as much as Princess.  I want to write about him more, it will keep me in the here and now, and the reality that in 2 years he could be leaving home.
I am immensely proud of him, that goes without saying.  He is far more self maintaining than Princess of course.  He doesn’t demand the same level of attention by definition.  In fact, he actively avoids attention from me and expressed a huge relief that I had someone else to fuss over when Princess arrived.
This week cannot go without mention though.  A couple of things have happened.  He has featured on the front page of the school newspaper as well as bringing home a couple of significant certificates.  His school took part in the UK Mathematics Trust Intermediate Challenge.  It’s an exam aimed at Year 11 to support their existing Maths studies.  Only 7% of children who take part receive a Gold Award.  My teen received a Gold Award!  Other Year’s took part in challenges that were relevant to their age group.
It didn’t stop there!  He also received a certificate for Best in School, as he was the only person selected to go on to take part in the Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad.  Only 500 children in the country are invited to take part in this round.  To give you an idea of how tough it is, there’s 6 questions and your given 2 hours to answer them.  On the front of the paper it says ‘If you answer 2, your doing well!’.  He was the first in his school to go on to this stage.  If successful at this stage he could receive a medal or be invited to take part in a summer school.  I’m not sure if that’s one Geek step too far for him though!  I really hope he does well, I’ve got everything crossed, he knows something like this could make a huge difference to his personal statement for University.
I also had a lovely conversation with his teacher about what a pleasure he is to teach, and what a lovely kind and gentle young man he is.  The sincerity this was said with was overwhelming.  This isn’t a side of Teen I get to see very often, as for some reason he leaves him at the front door.  To have people consistently speak so highly of him is just amazing and makes me gush!    But don’t tell him, will you 😉
His GCSE’s start in less than 7 weeks, revision is well and truly gearing up.  He could achieve as many as 5A*s, and I know this must sound like pressure but it really isn’t.  For some reason I have been blessed with a young man who is committed to doing well, he knows exactly what he wants to do in life, and how competitive the road to getting there is.  I don’t stand over him and make him study for hours, he is responsible for himself.  I worry about the amount of gaming he does, but he walked his mocks at Christmas with very little input from me.
I’m one very proud Mum to a fantastic Teen.  A Teen that should also be very proud of himself and all that he’s achieved.  My biggest worry at the moment is that his new little sister is due May 20th!  Should I be worried about the disruption? What do you think?  I could well be worrying over nothing…..
Good luck Teen, for the Olympiad and your GCSE’s.  I’m not sure you can make this Mum any prouder than she already is, but I have a feeling your going to.
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11 COMMENTS

  1. Ahh he sounds so good and like he’s a complete pleasure to teach. Well done to him on his predicted grades too and I hope that he really excels in whatever he does xx

    • Thank you, so do I. It would take a girl to veer him of course, and being tall dark and handsome too, that could happen!

  2. And it’s for this reason that ‘Loud n Proud’ was born. This kind of thing can’t go by without being shouted about! Well done to your teen and congratulations to you who has obviously reared a lovely young man (even if you don’t get to see him very often!). Good luck to him in the Olympiad and his GCSEs, sounds like you’ve got a young genius on your hands 🙂

    • Thanks so much for your kind comment! I love the #loudnproud idea, and hopefully it will help generate some positive thinking about young people who constantly seem to get a bad press

  3. What a lovely post! So good to share the achievements of the big ones as well as the little ones – and it sounds like he is doing amazingly with his maths. No wonder you’re proud
    Thanks very much for sharing with Loud ‘n’ Proud.

  4. I am such a very proud granny, and there was a tear in my eye when I read this post out to my friend. Teen is a credit to you, and you should know just how grateful I am that you have raised my grandson to be such a wonderful young man, under what have been at times trying circumstances. I could not have wished for better, and know that Princess and her new sister will have the best and most loving family in which to flourish.

  5. What an excellent young man you have there! And I believe it is perfectly ordinary for them to have a public and a private persona, if Harry Enfield is anything to go by… I hope my own tiny mathematician grows up to do as well as your teen has! You certainly have reasons to be Loud and Proud!!

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