The Important Conversations


As a mother, I often think about all those things I may not have told my children about life. Have I told them such safety issues as not mixing ammonia and bleach when cleaning (if they will even end up cleaning their houses), checking food for expiration dates before eating it (not to mention examining it for mold), and changing their smoke detector batteries when the time changes twice a year (I checked my oldest son’s apartment smoke detectors when I was there last and they were all hanging from the ceilings without batteries!)?

But more importantly, I wonder if I have had told them how important it is to find a partner who will love them for their faults, honor and respect them, and not want to change the person they truly are.  Have I told them that they should never compromise their values and ethics no matter what situation faced them? Do they know that no matter how bad their day is, tomorrow promises a new beginning?

When my son saw me come in the door with the book for my class, he commented, “Mom, we have five important conversations every day.”  I replied, “Really?” He answered wittily, explaining, “When I get home from school, you ask, ‘How was your day?’ and I answer you.” He went on to say, “Then I ask you what we are having for dinner. You answer that you don’t know.”  He went on, saying, “Then you tell me you are leaving for meeting or an errand.”  I tell him that is only two conversations, but he adds, “When you get home, I ask you again what is for dinner and you tell me you still don’t know, but you don’t want to cook dinner.  Then, later I ask you when we are going to eat dinner and you tell me soon. Finally, I ask you when dinner will be ready and you say, NOW – wash your hands!”

To hear my son’s version of our daily conversations, I certainly don’t offer him many new ideas in the course of a day. While I haven’t started my class yet, I am sure it will broaden the scope of what we talk about.

The course I am taking is based on the book, “Five Conversations You Must Have With Your Son,” by Vicki Courtney. I scanned the topics the course will offer over the next five weeks and they include:

• Don’t define manhood by the culture’s wimpy standards
• What you don’t learn to conquer may become your master
• Not everyone’s doing it
• Boyhood is only for a season
• Godly men are short in supply

Somehow, I don’t think that I will be so worried about the mold and the smoke detectors when I am finished with this class.  My boy is becoming a man and I will be privileged to experience his transformation and maybe even talk about what that feels like – that is, if he is not asking me what’s for dinner!