You call this overprotecting?

I had to go "into town" today because we were out of cream for my morning coffee. I was resorting to fake, powdered chemicals, and it wasn't pretty. So...my son and I took advantage of a sunny morning to have a quick lunch at McDonald's (talk about chemicals and such but at least the salt and fat are tasty).

Somehow the conversation came around to drugs and alcohol at parties and friendships...and how they all relate. He could only recall being at one party where he knew without a doubt someone was on a "drug", because he could smell the aroma of the...uh...ciggy. My husband served two tours of duty in Viet Nam and has always told us one never forgets that particular aroma.

What got me thinking was this...how many seventeen year old boys can say they haven't been to parties with drugs and alcohol at least somewhere in a back room? Oh, there have been plenty of LAN parties where there was objectionable language (and these were Christians) but these guys only overdose on Mountain Dew.

I've been accused of overprotecting both of my children at times. Mainly because I monitored their media, who were their friends, and I wanted to know where they were and if they were coming home late. Horrible mother, terrible, call Family Services! That was even before we made the decision to homeschool Christopher!

What I find amusing is how NOT overprotective I am in many areas. My son's best friends for years (and as close as brothers) are liberal Jews. Another good friend is a Hindu. He does have one Christian in his best friends circle...the one that had purple hair at one time. These are the people whose parties he attends...without the drugs and other such modern day amenities. I know their parents...good people...moral people.

I'm the only mother I know who knows all the characters in at least one anime because my son and I watched Dragon Ball Z together every evening for a couple of years. I'm familiar enough with a couple of other anime that I can read the title and know what they are about. This came about because my son wanted to watch a couple that were popular so I agreed as long as we could watch them together and discuss them (he must have been around age ten when we started). We agree completely on what seasons were good and what were...not.

I also probably corrupted my children by letting them watch Star Trek in all its genre, Babylon 5, and Star Gate through hundreds of reruns. I'd rather watch a rerun of one of them than a brand new episode of whatever is on TV these days!

There's something about Science Fiction that brings about Possibility in that part of my brain where Story resides. I remember reading Perelandra by C. S. Lewis (second in his Space trilogy) and I could see God's Hand at work on Venus as it had been on Earth before we became The Silent Planet.

Overprotective? If only they knew? I guess I am if overprotective means I must be an integral part of their life, that their father and I insist on being an influence on who they know, what they are doing, and what kind of person they are becoming.

I'm overprotective if I do all in my ability to provide an atmosphere that they want to live as Christians and to really know Christ. Not to just let them "make their own decision" ...someday...maybe...about "religion". As if one were deciding between regular Coke and diet Coke and not their eternal future?

To be honest, I like both my kids...the teenager and the one who is raising her own children. I like her husband, too. Neither are perfect by any means but then again, they were raised by imperfect parents. :)

So....this was where my mind had been today as I was chatting with a teenager at McDonald's.