"I am now the proud owner of a teenage son."
Nick hit the big 1-3 last Tuesday and, almost like flicking a switch, a miraculous change occurred.
Almost exactly as it had with Ali at that age, he has suddenly decided he likes Nirvana, big style.
This threw me into a certain amount of panic, as I'd spent a great deal of time and effort sourcing a Take Me To The Hospital T-shirt by The Prodigy, with no time to get a replacement Kurt Cobain one.
Nick, like my father before him, is expert at totally wrecking any present plans you have for them.
I'd lost count of how many times my dad, who never bought himself anything, would say in November/December time: "I'm going to get myself that new Frank Sinatra record/pipe/cigarette lighter."
This invariably led to an explosive outburst from my mother or me, who had already bought said item for Christmas, followed by a huffy return trip to the shops.
Then the entire scenario would be capped by him saying: "I don't want anything for Christmas."
That's because he's already got it himself! If only there were Amazon wish lists in the olden days...
We still had the traditional birthday tea for him, because you're never too old for that, only Nick sold it to his friends as "Playstation and cake time", just in case it sounded too baby-ish.
I had to stagger home from the town with bags of lemon drizzle cake, rocky roads, chocolate rolls, Pringles and breadsticks – Nick's ideal meal, really.
I must admit, I was dreading it a bit – the thought of having all those teenage boys sitting grunting at each other.
And one of the dads greeted me at the door with: "I hope you've got some paracetamol ready."
Actually, I'd already taken some pre-emptive ibuprofen, just to knock the edge off the stress.
But nothing could have been further from the truth.
The lads were great, really chatty, polite and a credit to their parents. They can all come over any time.
And the best thing was, Nick incriminated himself over countless ridiculous incidents while showing off over the tea table.
There was something about an orange and another one about a broken doorlock...
I have made mental notes of all of these things and I promised him that I'd email them to his head of house if he puts a foot wrong.
It was most amusing to watch the colour drain from his face and hear the glee in his friends' laughs.
There's nothing like a nice drop of fear on your birthday to make you behave.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Sunderland striker Campbell fresh to face Middlesbrough
- Sunderland’s astonishing rise even surprising Martin O’Neill
- Middlesbrough 1 Sunderland 2 (aet): O’Neill relieved to avoid shoot-out lottery as Sessegnon wins it
- Martin O’Neill defends David Meyler after criticism from Tony Pulis
- Kieran Richardson says there is plenty more to come from James McClean
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sunderland
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -3 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 1 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South west
