I'm getting older, but I'm not too old that I don't remember being a teenager, looking at my mom, and wondering if she and I lived in the same world.
Don't get me wrong--my mother was not clueless, far from it. She was sharp and competent and wise. But sometimes, when my friends and I would talk to her about things that interested us, she just had that look, a look of not quite understanding it all. And now, I know how she feels.
My son is a digital artist. For the past several years he's been making a name for himself in the world of social media. He's produced videos that have been seen hundreds of thousands of times. He's created art that--because of the internet--anyone from anywhere across the globe can order and display. He's still a teenagers, albeit in his last teenage year. It's getting to be a somewhat regular occurrence that he'll tell us of another milestone, another sale, another pinnacle reached.
Like last week, when he told us one of his original works of art is up on a website to be voted on. I checked out the site. I'm sure I had the same look my mom used to have. But I'm smart enough to know that there's an entire fandom out there who, when they see this picture, will think it's really cool. I do, and I don't understand most of it. I've checked out his other artwork and the response he gets from those "in the know" is very positive.
If you'd like to check out the voting site, click: HERE. Maybe you're one who, when they see the picture, know more about it, the character, and everything else. I admit, I just don't, even though I do try and keep up on what all the kids are into these days--there's just so much of it and I've got things to do...like work and sleep.
Yes, I believe having the look of confusion when speaking with your children has arrived for me, as it did with my mother, and will no doubt, happen to my children when their time comes. And on that day, I wonder if the will remember the look I sometimes give them now. Time will tell.
