Unknowning to All Knowing

There was a time not too long ago that I knew nothing.

Nothing I had to say was of any value.

None of my experience was of any importance.

I was forever considered to be the "Unknowing."

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Those of you with teenagers probably understand what I'm talking about. When there is a teenager in the house, parents are typically considered to be lacking in knowledge and value. Words from the mouth of a parent rarely make it through the walls of the teenage mind.

At some point, though, I transitioned from the Unknowing into the All Knowing. This change has certainly taken me by surprise because I have no idea how or when this all transpired. I only know that I am now the fountain of knowledge to be cherished and held in high regard.

I am the one with the answers, even more valuable than the words of any doctor who may speak of his learned wisdom.

This new position of mine became apparent last night as we were preparing to leave the hospital where my daughter, Angel, had taken her new baby to the emergency room. Dakota was running a low-grade fever, which would normally be of no concern but at his young age required a visit to the E.R. The silly doctor, for some bizarre reason, told Dakota's anxious parents that the only reason he was running a fever was because he had gas. (Yes - the E.R. doctor diagnosed the cause of the baby's fever as "gas". ) Having been schooled by me, Angel was acutely aware that gas does not cause babies to have fevers. She was disinclined to accept this explanation from the doctor, but he insisted that his diagnosis was correct. He even refused to provide her the proper dosing information for infant Tylenol should it be needed, assuring her that the dosage was to found on the label of the medication. (It isn't, by the way. Not for children as small as Dakota.)

Understandably, Dakota's mother and father were quite annoyed at being told to go home without even any directions on how to deal with the fever. So as we prepared to leave, Angel looked at me said "What do I do now?" With those simple words, she had conveyed to me that she knew without a doubt that I would provide her with sound guidance. She even followed that statement by telling me that I obviously knew more than the doctor there, and she wasn't sure what she should do.

After advising her appropriately on managing her evening with a baby that might or might not sleep, we parted ways. On my lengthy drive home it occurred to me - She TRUSTS me.

Me!

The ONE person in her last four years of life that has been her constant thorn. The ONE person who NEVER understood her or what she was dealing with. ME!

Not only does she trust me, but she NEEDS me. All those years of hoping that somehow I could manage to get through to her and now I find that I did. She practically begged me to meet her at the hospital (nearly an hour and a half away from my home) so that she wouldn't be there alone. (Anxious new dad didn't count as proper company...)

What a feeling! I MADE A DIFFERENCE! (With a whole lot of help from Randall!!!)

Were it not for the two of us and the grace of God, there is no doubt that this precious child of ours would have fallen to the depth of darkness.

So to all of you who have or will have teenagers and have or will have difficulties with said teenagers ---

IT IS WORTH IT IN THE END!

ONE DAY, YOU TOO WILL FIND THAT YOU HAVE TRANSITIONED FROM THE UNKNOWING TO THE ALL KNOWING!