My Mom’s Son Prince Tony 👑
September 20, 2023 at 12:00 pm Leave a comment
My kid brother and I were 5 years and 8 days apart. I considered him my twin because we thought the same way and marched to a different drumbeat than the rest of the family.
Don’t misunderstand me. We were not the people in charge, our parents were. However, I believed rules were simply guidelines (broken when necessary), and my brother followed me.
Then life changed. When I started attending high school, it was not in the community where I grew up, but an hour away. Being five years younger, my brother had other interests. I liked boys and music; he liked Hot Wheels™️ and building items out of clay. 🤷🏽♀️ And as he reached puberty, his room SMELLED.👃
What was crazy around that same time, was how the house rules worked differently for my brother. My sister and I were expected to keep our room clean. There were no clothes under the bed, or on the floor of the closet. When it came to my brother’s room, Mom just told him to close the door. 🚪
As a high schooler, I was busy with schoolwork, choir and a new set of friends, so I didn’t really focus on the subtle changes that were taking place at home between my mother and brother.
During my junior year, my mom and dad divorced and the effect of my dad’s exit on our family was profound, especially on my brother.
He started losing his way, getting into trouble at school and in the neighborhood. My mother decided that my brother’s friend was a bad influence on him and moved he and my sister to a different community.
From my perspective, my mother accommodated my brother too much. He could come and go without much discussion; certainly more leeway than I had as a teen. By the time I was in college, my brother and I lost touch with each other. He attempted suicide several times and discovered he had a rare illness – Crohn’s.
In retrospect, if I had a child who attempted suicide and lived or suffered with a chronic illness, I’m sure I would adjust my parenting style to be as accommodating as possible.
When I say my brother was my mom’s prince, I mean she pampered him. She treated him differently than she did my sister and I. Being a prince 🤴🏽 gives the impression of privilege. It could also mean that you don’t understand the person that you’re dealing with, and you give them “space” to grow (while you watch). However, given the trauma that my brother experienced, maybe he earned the prince title fair and square.
Having my own sons and daughters, I’ve learned that little boys love to please their moms. It’s a euphoric feeling that lasts until puberty. 😃 Maybe.
Once our sons become pubescent teens, they have other interests. They don’t say “I love you” as much, if at all.
For mothers who have felt that love, it’s addictive like a drug, and many of us will do whatever necessary to keep our sons “love”. I wrote about the mother-son relationship in my book – The Pampered Prince: Moms Create a GREAT Relationship with Your Son 10 years ago and have recently written a script to turn the book into a modern drama.
Pledge your support and help me finance a sizzle reel that can be shown at next year’s film festivals and to motivated film producers. 🔜 http://bit.ly/Princemovie
Click Here to join my Pampered Prince movie project and thanks for your pledge.
C. Lynn Williams, #MsParentguru
Parent Coach, Author, Speaker & Filmmaker
Entry filed under: Parenting.
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