Mother of a Man-Child

As I publish today, one of my men-children has been stuck in Adelaide for the past week, thanks to the qualms of nature and a certain volcano spewing ash across the globe.  What started out as a long weekend away for a teenage party has turned into a week-long stay – who would have thought!

Such is the irony, that having initially been stranded in Adelaide due to the closure of Melbourne airport, the ash cloud then travelled backwards across Australia to Adelaide airport, grounding my son and his friends for even more time.

For the first time ever (and never again) he flew Tiger Airways.  Yes, very cheap and god-awful flight times, but who cares when you’re a teenager?  Except when there’s been an Act of God that closes the airports, and suddenly the “busted-arse” airline has NO priority in the aviation skies, and so no planes can get off the ground.

So after expecting our darling man-child home last Monday (I admit I was looking forward to seeing him even after 3 days) it’s now Saturday (at best) before we will see him.   Naturally buses and trains have been explored, but as you would imagine they’ve been booked out, and I’m not that keen on teenagers doing that without adult supervision, so we’ve decided that the fall back is now Father of a Man-Child and another Dad driving to Adelaide and back to bring the boys home, if all goes pear-shaped again on Saturday.

Whilst I am missing him, naturally Man-Child II is delighting at missing school and spending time with a family who apparently like him so much they’d happily adopt him!  Regardless of how they behave at home (typically badly), all is forgiven when you learn from another parent (and I quote) “Man-Child II has been amazing…Dishes in sink, making bed, helping out…Tidying up after the party.”  Why is it that none of that happens here at home?

Naturally as time has gone on, I’ve shuddered to think that he didn’t take the bath towel I asked him to take, and only had two pairs of jocks, but I know that they’ll be well looked after, and just be treating it as a “camping” trip = minimal hygiene required.

Before Man-Child II had even got on the plane to Adelaide a week ago, I should have known there was trouble brewing.  I had the host mother on the phone just to confirm if it was true that I had given my permission for my son to have his eyebrow pierced (his mate was opting for the lesser ear-piercing).  I said absolutely NOT, but feel free to let him know that if he has his foreskin pierced then he can also have his eyebrow pierced!  With much hilarity we both agreed that given this option he probably would. 🙂

That didn’t stop Man-Child II texting me furiously to try to convince me why he should be allowed to have the piercing.  Needless to say I remained adamant it not happen, both verbally, and to ensure no “misunderstanding” via text  – I guess time will tell!

All said and done it’s been interesting to have Man-Child II away for the week.  The dynamics of the house have changed significantly – sister of a man-child has no one annoying her, and Man-Child I has no one to fight with – it’s been positively BORING!  And I admit, I’ve missed him as I do any of my children when they’re away for an extended period of time.  As they say, absence does make the heart grow fonder – but only if it doesn’t have an earring in it!!