Yesterday August 25th was a momentous day, not only was it the live stream of KSI versus Logan Paul fight but it was the first day my son had invited a large group of friends over. For those of you wondering what the live stream means, it was the broadcasting of the first and largest paid boxing YouTube event. Over the last few months there has been much hype and build up between the rival YouTubers who have amassed a large following, so this was going to be huge.
I remember the hours leading up to the event my wife and I were like, what were we thinking agreeing to this. I hope things do not get out of hand. We were questioning our decision and stating our demands to our teenage son,
“We do not want them in the lounge”. “Absolutely No drinking”, “I mean no drinking”.
All the usual things parents would say, knowing that a large group of teenagers were about to descend and take over your house. Our son, exasperated at hearing this for like the tenth time agreed and eagerly went about quietly organising whilst maintaining contact with his friends on his phone. (arrgh!!)
So why was this a momentous day, well it was the first time, our eldest had felt comfortable enough to invite his closest friends all at once to our house. Inviting friends over is no biggy really, we previously have had 2 or 3 of his friends at a time around, but 11 was a first. One which brought the realisation of, oh where will they all sit, what would they eat and drink.
My son was unfazed by the whole matter, whilst we were out shopping for drinks and snacks, he arranged the room with chairs borrowed from around the house with his desired seating arrangement. He had worked out how to connect the live stream to the television and paid for the connection.
I noted his organisation skills there, which funny enough never seem to surface when I ask him to do something.
By mid-afternoon our house was full, I mean full of giants. I knew this would be the case before I met them. This was indicated by the impressive array of trainers left by the front door. It seemed as if a memo (or is it a text these days) had been sent around to wear black trainers, this was the uniform for today.
On meeting them I decided to dispense with embarrassing them and myself with exchanging names, some of his friends I recognised from previous encounters but there were a few new faces. Instead, the obligatory nod and hello was casually thrown into the room, trying to be a cool parent but at the same time mindful of not embarrassing my teenage son who seemed remarkably laid back and relaxed about the whole affair. I noted he had everything under control and the room as I anticipated was full of nearly grown men. Teenage boys these days seem to be six-foot-plus in height. It is no surprise given the amount of food they consume. My son again demonstrating his hidden organisation skills had decided to ration the drinks and snacks we bought and we found ourselves in the unusual situation of saying to his friends whenever they happened to pop into the kitchen there is food here. It turned out my son was planning ahead and knew of their voracious appetite so was monitoring and timing consumption.
I noted communication, negotiation and planning skills there.
With the event well underway, it started with the lesser known YouTubers, you could hear from the room raucous laughing, deep baritone voices, and the occasional expletive so I knew all was good. Only once did I need to step in to remind them to be mindful of the door which seemed to be taking a battering as they decided for whatever reason to prevent one of my son’s friends back into the room. My youngest son keen not to miss out floated in and amongst the action and spent the majority of the time in another room with me watching the event.
Pizzas (the largest order I have ever placed), snacks and drinks consumed, event over my son and his friends all helped to tidy up and were gracious enough to thank my wife and me for the food and hospitality. It was pleasing to witness that they, my son included had a good time. Again I noted my son’s ability to tidy up, he even without asking used the vacuum cleaner. So I now know, he knows what it looks like. I won’t disclose the fight result, for those who have not seen it, but needless to say, as some of my son’s friends departed the comment that we may be hosting a similar event in few months time, stuck.
So, all in all, it was a good day, it reaffirmed my opinion of how teenagers need to be given a chance. I witnessed and was reminded of the many life skills my son has already developed and overall I felt proud to see the friendships and potential of these young men. Happy memories were made that day, It was a good day.