Why teens are embarrassed by their parents

Apparently I am on crack.
This was the assessment of my 14-year-old son, Blake, this morning after he looked in his lunch bag even though he knows I never have used illegal drugs. Lots of coffee and chocolate - guilty.

In his lunch bag were a Tiger’s milk peanut butter and honey bar, goldfish crackers, water bottle, Granny Smith apple and two large pieces of pizza housed in a red, rectangular container.

Pulling the red container out of the bag, Blake glares at me and asks “What are you thinking? I can’t take this to school. Are you on crack?”

Translation from grumpy teen language to English – “Mom, my friends would give me crap if I pulled this out of my lunch bag. This is so embarrassing."

Putting the pizza in sandwich bags was out-of-the-question because each slice of pizza was about the length and width of a paperback novel. I didn’t have any tin foil to wrap it in.

Next best solution – natural wax paper.

"You aren't going to use that, are you," Blake asked.

"Every problem has a solution," I told him, only to cause him to roll his eyes and shake his head.

Yes, I took a large sheet of wax paper, put the pizza slices on it, grabbed some tape and wrapped the pizza up.

“Mom,” Blake said as he watched me neatly fold the corners and tuck them in, “it’s not a Christmas present.”

Looking at his serious expression sent me into a fit of giggles so serious, tears came to my eyes. My uncontrollable laughter only caused him to roll his eyes again and shake his head. (Note to readers: Blake is silly and goofy in the afternoon but he’s not a morning person.)

The more serious his expression was, the more I started laughing. His attempt to stifle his grin only made me laugh harder.

“Really, mom,” he said, grabbing his lunch and heading out the door.

"Sometimes, you just have to laugh at what life brings you," I told him. Time and time again, my children have heard me say laughter really is the best medicine.

Driving to school in silence – except for the radio blaring the latest bubble gum music – we got to school.

“Bye, I love you,” I said.

Quietly, “I love you too,” he said as he got out of the car and raced toward school and his friends.