The View From Here . . .
By Bob Morgan, Jr.

Ready or not, I am about to become the father of a teenager as young Robert reaches the exalted age of 13 this weekend.

No one is telling me that this is an easy role. Teenagers are not exactly known for their sense of organization, their desire to please their parents or for their even temperament. It is very natural for them to explore limits and demand freedoms, whether they are ready for these added liberties or not.

And it will be a long run. Before the teen years are finished, we will no doubt face such challenges as college admissions and (gasp) the pursuit of a driver's license and a first car, among many others. The lad likely will be six inches taller and 40 pounds heavier than he is now, literally looking down on his father.

The twelve year old model of my son is actually pretty easy to take. He is not exactly shy about expressing his opinions and disagreements, but given his status as the son of a lawyer (and indeed, of his late mother, Maureen, a banker), that is perhaps to be expected. He still very much enjoys hanging out with his aging father and is very steadfast and loyal, as well as smart and clever. He has a great sense of humor, and is able to laugh at himself. And, even though he goes to seventh grade school dances (he's very tight-lipped about them), he is still a kid in many ways. His birthday gift, in addition to some cash deposited to his brokerage account, is an improved skateboard.

Of course, some of this will change, as it should and must. I am hoping, however, that his natural adolescent distrust of parents as authority figures will be somewhat tempered by memories of the many good times that we have shared together. And, of course, he shared many good times with his mother as well, who loved the lad with all her heart.

I suppose that being the parent of a teenager is nature's payback for one's own teenage years. Looking back, I think I was a fairly easy teenager ( I spent much of my time in high school working after school), although I had my moments, including occasional needs to tell off my parents for their perceived shortcomings. I certainly never appreciated how much time and energy is required for successful parenting, and I marvel at how my parents got six of us through these difficult years without major problems.

A few days after Robert's birthday, he and I will be taking our annual spring trip abroad. Since we went to Europe for the past five years, we are branching out a bit to Morocco, which promises to be an intriguing and exotic mixture of cultures (nevertheless, based on my research, a pretty safe country). I am very much looking forward to sharing this experience with him. Both literally and metaphorically, our departure for Morocco will be the beginning of a long journey.