Would 13-year-old you be proud of who you are now?

When my huge 13-year-old son started buying pot and amphetamines from a neighbor kid, punched his sister in the nose when she saw him, and then tried to take me out and got a kickboxing beat down where I was not holding back, I threw him out of the house. I put him in a home for wayward boys that my husband's uncle and his wife operate, not far from our farm. He was growing so fast that he developed a pituitary adenoma, which most of the huge men in my husband's family have gone through, including him (causes some anger and behavioral issues). He told his father that I was dangerous and insane. 🤣 I wasn't on his Christmas card list that year. My daughter, however, was different. At 13, she was loving and cuddly. At 16, she recently almost found out what happened to her brother on that awful day. And now he is the very giant, most loving, and protective son I could have hoped for.

Proud? Not a chance. Not at that age.