Tween angst

Yesterday we picked up a very dirty tween from a week at sleepaway camp. His proud report was that he hadn’t showered once during the week. I could see inklings of his rosy cheeks peeking out from the grime. And I’m not even going to share the tooth-brushing report, which really gave me the heebie jeebies. Despite the layers of dirt, we were very happy to have him back and to hear about his amazing week. We also were quickly reminded of the tween phase he is going through, from the mini meltdowns to the quick angry outbursts and also the fierce love that peeks through here and there. And immediately we were sprinkled with penis jokes again. Or perhaps I should say we are sprayed with a fire hose?