Incompetent and Lazy

I don't even know what we were talking about when The Son said something that I had never heard him say before. He said, "Oh! That guy is the most lazy and incompetent person I have ever met."

As a mother, I have spent 17 years of his life thinking that if I am not careful, my son would be lazy and incompetent. I have carried with me the thought that if I did not watch him carefully, he would skive and not give his best to his endeavours.

To hear him pass judgment thus on a fellow 17 year old was quite a shock to me. It seemed like a Father speaking. Of course, there are many lazy and incompetent fathers. So, age is no indication of maturity. Still, he looks so young and I had yet to lay down the burden of being custodian of his character and his morals.

So, I remarked to him that I am a little surprised that he would thus judge his peer. I said, "Don't all teens empathise with all teens about working hard? Nobody wants to work hard surely?"

My son looked at me, eyes wide. He said, "Mom! No one wants to work hard. If you ask me, I would rather play. The reason why I am gonna do this specimen now is so that I needn't do it tomorrow. The reason why I would do it tomorrow if I did not do it now is so that I can get good results at IB. The reason why I want good results at IB is that I want a future that is secure enough to finance things I wanna do for fun. I am doing this now so that I can have fun in future!"

Then, he continued, "All of us wanna have fun. I wouldn't judge another boy for wanting to play. However, it is reprehensible when a person is completely incapable of controlling himself enough to stop playing for a bit in order to discharge his duties to others and self."

Wow! My boy has become a man.