I found out the hard way – my boys ain't boys anymore

“They say no matter how old they get, your kids will always be kids to you. Well, I felt the same until the day my eyes saw something huge and I decided ….oh no! they ain’t boys anymore.

I had this really bad habit of barging into my boys’ rooms without notice even as they entered their teens. They complained about my ‘supposed’ invasion of their privacy but I didn’t understand what the fuss was about; they were teenagers …okay, very tall teenagers but then, they were my babies so who cares. My husband did and he warned me about respecting our kids’ boundaries. I didn’t pay any attention of course. Until one day.

I had something to say to my nineteen year old who had just come home from college for a short break and as usual, I barged into his room. It was morning, the boy had just come out of his bathroom and he was stark naked. Involuntarily, my eyes went to his private area and I almost passed out. My boy was as big as my husband and till today, I wish I could unsee what I saw that day. He shouted, I shouted and he grabbed his bed cover and tried to protect himself. There was no need because my hands were over my face and I was muttering many apologies along with lamentations to God.

When he eventually came out of the room – after over an hour – he was very upset and started again about how I didn’t respect their boundaries. He told his father, of course, and together, they all berated me – all five of them against me. Later that night in our bedroom, my husband could not hold his mirth as he got me to describe exactly what happened. He didn’t sympathize with me at all, saying it was good for me to learn the hard way that our boys were not boys anymore. Oh my gosh! Did I learn?”