Dane Bramage? Nope. Teenager

October 19th, 2008 by Richard

As it turns out, my two oldest little dudes, ages 15 and 14, haven’t turned into complete drooling caricatures of themselves, without the good sense that God gave a bag of rocks. And crushed rocks at that. According to some new research, it seems as if there’s really something going on in their brains. Turns out, the area of the brain that’s responsible for decision making doesn’t really mature enough to start getting some use out of it until around 21 or 22.

During the high-school years, I’ve been trying to let my thumb off the little dudes a little so they can ready themselves for the decision making they have to do in college when they’re, hopefully, out of the house. Turns out, the reason they start spinning helplessly in circles when I let off is because their brains don’t work right. I just hope they don’t find out about this. They don’t need another excuse.

This was really brought home to me when I saw a great cartoon in the local newspaper. (Yes, I still subscribe to a newspaper. I used to be a newspaper reporter. I think it’s inertia, fueled by a sense of pity for a dying medium.) I’d love to reprint it here, but the artist charges money for reprints and I’m too cheap to pay for it. (Screams “I’ve never paid for it in my life!” Um, wrong kind of paid for it. Oh, sorry.) The cartoon is a diagram of a teenager’s brain, with a huge lobe for the birds and bees and another for rebellion, as well as teeny tiny glands for judgement, memory for chores and homework, and another for the ability to be seen in public with parents.

Sounds just a bit too familiar. I’m thinking the artist has been hanging around our house. Even if he hasn’t, he seems to have described perfectly the way my two oldest little dudes’ minds are working. Or not working as the case may be.

So, it looks like we’re in for a longer haul than we thought if their brains won’t be ready for independent operation until their 20s. Now if only we could find some way to make them listen to the advice we’re trying to give.

– Richard