Elsa and Bryce have been dating now for approximately 6 months. This is her first boyfriend, this is our first experience parenting the “first boyfriend”. How are we doing so far? Well, not sure but I guess time will tell!
So far I think we are doing pretty good. These two are good kids and I do marvel at the maturity of them (way more mature than I ever was), but still…how do we know if we are parenting it right?
I can tell you this, my sweet Elsa talks to me. Talks to me about A LOT of things and I listen. I listen, I answer her questions, I am completely honest and I hope she knows how much I value this part of our relationship. I had a similar relationship with my mom and I am so grateful for that. Grateful that I did not need to figure this all out on my own. Grateful that there was no judgement, just a sweet mama who wanted to listen and help guide me.
To me, this is the fun part of parenting. Sure it freaks me out a little bit because she is still my baby, but life keeps moving and they keep growing. I wish I could slow the clock down and stop my gray hairs from growing so fast (I mean I barely make it 4 weeks between colors!) But this “first boyfriend” brings so much joy to my little girl and watching her light up when she talks about him, brings back so many memories of Jason and I that it’s hard not to be over the moon for the two of them.
Speaking of Jason…
~Jen
I was to meet Bryce for the first time at Elsa’s basketball game and was ready with the stereotypical fear tactics that all us Dads deploy in protection of our daughters. I had met Bryce’s parents and siblings before and was convinced he came from a solid loving family but now things were different, this was someone interested in my daughter! It was the first quarter and I saw him enter the gym, walk over to the section Jen and I were in and walk straight up the stairs toward me and didn’t stop until he was standing right in front of me with his hand out announcing….”Hi Mr. Larry, I’m Bryce, it is nice to meet you. Do you mind if I have a seat?” I was totally shocked….isn’t this the generation of entitlement, the generation that communicates through social media even if you are sitting right next to each other or at the dinner table?!...instead this Junior in High School gave me a firm handshake, sat down next to me and proceeded to impress me with his polite and intelligent conversation. That was 6 months ago.
I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that my oldest daughter has a boyfriend. I would be a hypocrite to not be supportive. After all I was doing everything in my power to get Jen to like me at that age. I just want Elsa to be happy and be treated with respect...and I have to admit Bryce is doing a great job at both….so far.
~Jason
My mom asked me if we could do a “Boyfriend Experience” blog post this week… of course I wanted to do a “Boyfriend Experience” blog post, I could talk about Bryce all day long. Basically, I am the luckiest girl in the world, and there is no denying it. It is 100% safe to say that Bryce is THE sweetest guy I have ever met, I am treated with the respect of a queen (@my dad). He’s also incredibly social, so never in a million years did I think that he would choose me out of every other person he talks to. But he did, so now we’re here. Not gonna lie, my first boyfriend experience is pretty amazing and I’m not about to stop it now. For 6 months straight I have been told how beautiful I am every day; every girl deserves to feel the way Bryce makes me feel. Bryce has become one of my best friends and I couldn’t thank him enough for always supporting and encouraging me the way he does. I can’t help but laugh the hardest and smile the biggest when I’m with him. He makes me the happiest girl in the world. His twin sister Baylee once said, “I wish everyone could have a Bryce in their life” and I am one gosh darn lucky person to be one of those people who has him in their life. I didn’t think I could get any happier but God proved me wrong when he put Bryce in my life… thank you Jesus.
~Elsa