Girls at My Dinner Table

Is it wrong that I love my teenage son's girlfriend?  I can honestly say if he never dated anyone else and married this girl I would be thrilled!  I can actually say that about both of my boys.  They are only 16 and 17, so it seems like a real stretch that they would marry and live happily-ever-after.  A Mom can dream can't she?! I want them to be happy so badly.  Both of these girls seem to be really good influences on my boys.  I will hate to have to change my opinion of these chicks if they become little heart-breakers.

I know a lot of Mothers who don't like that the girlfriend comes along and knocks them off of their pedestal, so to speak.  I don't mind at all.  At least they listen to these girls, they never listen to me anyway.  It's not that I want them to run off and get married at such young ages, I don't.  But I do like how grounded they seem when they are with these young women.  And these girls are nice.  Their families are nice.  They are smart, funny, and comfortable to be around.  They fit in well.

I know lots of couples that have been married for a very long time and most of them met in their teen years and have been together ever since.  My parents are a good example of this.  They met at a high school football game.  My grandparents met at a town dance, my grandmother was only 14.  They were married something like 60 years.  I once read that couples are more likely to stay together if they marry young.  I think it has something to do with having to fight the odds and really growing up together.  I don't know.  In your twenties you kind of figure out who you are.  Maybe if you are already married, it helps you define yourself?  

Marriages are often viewed as disposable now-a-days.  My own kids have said that if you get married and you are unhappy, you just get divorced.  I hate that they feel that way and I know they are not the only ones who do.  I know my own divorce from their father contributed to these feelings.  I hope that some day they will understand that my marriage to their dad was far worse than most, and that I stuck in there and tried as long as humanly possible.

I am happy to see my sons growing up to be brilliant young men. There will probably be many girlfriends brought to my dinner table over the years, some I will like and some I won't.  But I will smile and swallow the blood from my bleeding tongue because all I want is for my boys to be happy!

Wonder Woman