The thing about parenting a teen is that everything suddenly becomes glaringly real. Which isn't to say that parenting children of other ages is anything less, but this age seems more critical; there is less time left before the fledglings enter the world beyond parental control, and if I don't get these next few years right then that is that. It's done. Well, unless you happen to be like my mom and one day find your 35 year-old daughter again living under the roof, but that is a different gig all together. My hope is to get these years right, or at least near the mark, so that my son can enter the world and be a functional, healthy human being. Unfortunately, one of the main obstacles in this objective is my son, Loren. He is quite likely his own worst enemy. After all, he is a teen. And teens are, forgive my judgment here, stupid. At least teen boys are dumb. They are impulsive. Invincible. Ultra cool. Their ears are closed to most any suggestion regarding improvement and self-preservation. Throw in a word or two of caution and the male teen child completely closes down to the point of appearing comatose. So what's the answer? I haven't the foggiest idea. I try to keep the lines of communication open and as much trust as possible on either end. This means I hear too many honest answers to my questions that I would rather not know.

The following clip is something Loren put together from a recent trip to the skate park. At first the video really bugged me, though I couldn't quite put my finger on the exact reason. But after watching it a few times, I realized that this is what these boys are like when no mothers are around. This is peer on peer behavior at its most honest. As ever, I sort of wish Loren was interested in tennis or chess rather than skateboarding, but the fact that he documented this ass-out honest depiction of his friends and made no effort to hide it from me , and in fact couldn't wait to show me the results, makes me feel honored to have a child with a passion for his filming and editing talents.

So take it with a grain of sand, or salt, or whatever, here it is: