I was joking with my boy the other day, about his communication skills. He was out with his friends, and didn’t text me once to check in. Which isn’t unusual. I guess cuz he’s a boy. When my daughter goes out, she texts me every hour or couple of hours. Sometimes just a happy face, sometimes she tells me what they’re up to. Sometimes she asks how I’m doing, or what we’re having for dinner without her. Just staying in touch, ya know?
But not my boy. We’ve had to work to get him to warn us when he’s on his way home, so we can open the door for him. Yes, he’s got a key, but we’ll all be less startled, including the dog, if we know he’s minutes away.
When I was in Colorado last month, I’m not sure I heard from him once. We talked on the phone every day, even a couple of times a day, but he never texted. Not even in response to my “Good morning” texts. Didn’t hurt my feelings; I’m used to it.
I would have been delighted to hear from him more often, but you know what? My feelings for my son didn’t change a bit. Lack of communication with him didn’t change our relationship, and it didn’t change our love for one another.
Will I keep texting him when I’m out of town? Yup. And I hope ~ and expect ~ that as he gets older, he’ll get more in the habit of reaching out to me. But in the meantime, I love him completely, even when he’s silent.
Light Expectations 