My son is 11...he is our oldest of 4, and very smart. Like I can't describe how his brain even works. Math...easy, Science...gets it,...reading...Harry Potter in 3rd grade took 3 months to finish them, Language Arts...he knows what a Preposition is & conjunctions & helps his sis with her homework. He isn't a genius prodigy or anything, he just gets it all and I never have to worry about him with his schoolwork. But in life...he is a bit absentminded and for some reason i think he has to have it all together for our life to be at peace (prob b/c if i dont have to think about him...one less thing). Monday he comes home and says Mom my science fair project is due in 1 hour! Now he had already turned it in for a grade but the fair was the following day and he needed to have it up at school in 1 hour!!! AND of course it had sat in the corner for a month awaiting the corrections it needed and the cards we made for the display had been crunched at the bottom of his backpack for a month...like i said i don't worry about this one. So we went into hyperdrive and proceeded to retype the Hypothesis, print, cut, glue...and so on until it was ready. Then we load up (thank goodness Allen was home to stay with the other 3 monkeys) brought it up to school and he forgot to mention he needed a card table for it to sit on....then his project wasn't listed on the teachers logbook so we waited in line to find out why he was not listed as even having a project.... SO he says "mom you go back home and get a table and i'll wait here and work it all out" -so i drive and think and kinda get frustrated and he doesn't have all his &*%$ together to make my life easier..... So then i talk to allen and he reminds me (b/c Jesus was already at work to remind me quietly in my heart) Stephen is 11, He needs grace upon grace to be 11 and survive in this world, I am 37 and need grace/grace and who better to show MY Child than me. Because does yelling at them help ANTHING? does frustrating sarcasm help ANYTHING? does the silent treatment help? no ive tried them all and all i know now is LOVE CHANGES PEOPLE. NOT law, not a system of RIGHT vs WRONG... who are we to determine what is right and wrong? look what happened to Adam and Eve...ok so i am now driving back and i am ready to accept Stephen just as he is and suffer a little so he can know he is loved. And it was painful to swallow it for a few moments but it was worth it all when i walked back into that gym and saw him showing his project to some kids and their parents and how proud he was of his work....i love that kid.