Parenting three generations

I know, I know....I brought it on myself. Having kids every ten years or so was probably not the smartest thing I've ever done, that is, NERVE-WISE. All I can say is that God Almighty has a great sense of humor. Let's take Exhibit A, the Legal Adult. I never have to take pictures of him now that he's grown. All I have to do is download the ones he took of himself with my digital camera. There's always 3 or 4. And he does such a good job, maybe photography should've been his thing. Lately, it's been hard being on the sidelines. While most guys his age are becoming more independent, it's not the case here. So many things I wanted to teach him, and now he's a grown man. I want be close to him without appearing to be the nagging mother. So, needless to say, I'm looking for new ways to communicate that validate him. He's a smart guy, just made some bone-head choices, like we all did at that age. I wish he knew how proud I am of the things he has accomplished in spite of setbacks. Telling him doesn't seem to work, so I guess after all these years I don't know my son's love language. Looks like I'll be heading to the library.
Exhibit B- The Rock Star. Puberty, girls, growing pains, acne, "You-hate-me" conversations...this pretty much sums up middleschoolers, so I guess I'm on track with all that. Fortunately for me he has an outlet in his art and music so the angst hasn't gotten the better of him....or me. He's a good student, just trying to figure out girls, and what makes the world go 'round.




And last but not least, Exhibit C....the Dyl Pickle.

I don't know if I have any words for this except, "Lord, give me strength!" Rambunctious, tenacious, hard-headed, determined, fun-loving, and mind-boggling. He will argue about the fact the letter you showed him was "A 'K', Mommy, not an "R"!" but can read words like 'ordinary' on the computer. Pickle can slip a disc in a drive and prompt the right program to make it work. He knows how to work the dvd player to a fault. And yes, that's an X-Box (with the Spiderman game playing) that he's doing in the picture. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
All of them wonderful, and I feel like I am so inadequate to parent them sometimes. It's getting harder and harder to switch to the right generation gear at the right time. But God will get me through this.