My son came out for his Spring Break last week and other than his unending quest for toys and candy, I wasn't sure I knew him.

For starters, he either walked 10 feet in front of us most of the time, putting that distance between himself and us as if to say, "I'm not with them", or he walked directly on top of me as if I wasn't there at all. Oh yeah, and don't even think about hugging him or mentioning the "L" word.

Yet, despite theseattempts at re-directing any parental affection, he still wanted us to be around him in one fashion or another, just on his terms.

I realized that even though my Little Boy is gone and has been replaced by a Pre-Teenage-Mutant, he still seems to need his parents' undivided attention...for now.

But he's only 11...I wasn't ready.