The air was fat with a disturbing silence when Mia watched her son Jack, entered the house Was different.
It wasn’t just that he was calm – he was too calm. Jack has always been a vortex of energy, a tornado of emotions and actions that seemed to be slowing down. But now that he entered their home after the weekend at the Grandmother House, Mia could hardly recognize him.
The boy who once ignored his requests to clean his room or complete his homework was politely smiled, offered to help with food, and even asked if he needed anything else that was happening around the house.
It was as if someone had switched the switch and the change was so drastic that she left it unpleasant.
The first instinct Mia was to celebrate. After years of fighting Jack’s behavior, this sudden transformation seemed as if a dream had come true. But the annoying feeling in her intestine told her that something was wrong. No child, especially one as well as jack, will not change overnight for no reason.
And so, with a mixture of relief and suspicion, Mia began to dig deeper and hoped in response, but she knew that sometimes the truth was more dangerous than the secrets. What really happened during that weekend? What did her son learn from his time with her grandmother Daphne? The answers, feared Mia, could be more worrying than she could ever imagine.
My spoiled son returned after the weekend on my grandmother – the truth was more than I expected
Mia is amazed when her previously rude son, Jack, returns from the weekend in the grandmother’s house that has changed completely, now calm, polite and responsible. But what Mia reveals behind his strange transformation will take her on a worrying journey.
Jack has always been a handful – energy, sometimes spoiled and uninteresting in discipline. My husband and I have tried everything to help him become more responsible, but it seemed that nothing was held. So when Jack came back from the weekend with my father -in -law, Daphne, he acted like a completely different child, he felt almost unreal.
He returned home polite, helpful and shocking calm. He washed the dishes, vacuumed the house and even shortened the screen time. At first I felt a relief mixed with a little restlessness. How could one weekend achieve what we couldn’t have in years?
I needed to know what happened. After some reluctance, Jack eventually admitted the truth.
“On Saturday evening were my grandmother and her friend in the kitchen. They lit candles and thought I was asleep, but I heard them talk about you,” he said, hesitating. “They said you would be alone soon, take care of me and do everything yourself. They said it could be too much for you.”
I felt a cold shock. “I don’t want you to take care of it, Mom,” he added quickly. “I just thought I’d help. I don’t mind.”
I pulled him into a hug and felt my heart softens. “You’re a good boy, Jack. But you don’t have to take my worries. That’s my job, not yours.”
But I had to understand it more. The next morning I went to Daphne’s house to stand up with her.
When she responded to the door, her usual smile disappeared as she saw the sight of my face.
“We have to talk,” I said.
“Jack heard you last night,” I started. “He heard you were talking about being” soon alone. “What does this mean?”
Daphne avoided my view, her shoulders failed. “It shouldn’t hear that,” she murmured.
“But he did. Why would you say that?” I asked again.
With a heavy sigh, she led me in. “Mia … There’s something you need to know. It’s a tradition in Ethan’s family. When men turn 35, they must go to the desert itself.
I didn’t believe her. “Do you mean it?”
“I wish I couldn’t,” she whispered. “That was a tradition for generations. Some of the men don’t do it, but they are expected. Ethan is known all his life.”
Her eyes with tears with tears. “Ethan is 35 in three weeks. And I’m afraid, Mia.”
My mind raced when I left her house and went home. When I walked, Ethan was lazy on the couch and looked frightened to see my anger.
“When did you tell me?” I demanded.
“Tell you what, honey?” He asked and pretended to be confused.
“This family ritual where you go to the desert like a rough man!” I gave off.
His fault was immediate. “Mia, me -“
“Don’t mind me!” I interrupted. “You knew about your whole life and you never told me? You didn’t hold me in the dark, ethan!”
“I didn’t want to scare you, Mia,” he begged.
“Oh, you didn’t want to scare me? That’s good,” I mocked. “You carry this secret, and now, three weeks before it happens, I should act as if it wasn’t a big problem?”
“It’s not that simple,” he said, trying to explain.
“Isn’t that so simple?” I picked up my voice. “Are you willing to risk your life for what? Any outdated tradition? Do you even hear?”
“It’s more than just a tradition, Mia. We’re who we are. Expected.
” – Will you dishonor your family?” I interrupted. “What about your family here, Ethan? And what about us?”
“I don’t want to go! I’m scared,” he said, and his voice broke. “But I don’t have a choice.”
I stood there and heard the smallest mixing of my legs behind me.
“Dad leaves now?” Jack’s silent voice cut out with tension.
Ethan and I froze, then I turned to Jack. I knelt down and held it close. “No, sweetheart, my dad is not going anywhere. Everything is fine.”
Ethan remained decisive, but I still felt anger and fear cooking in me. That night, when I was lying up, my mind raced with all the worst possible scenarios.
Meanwhile, Jack remained completely ignorant on the weight of the situation and continued to help around the house, proud of himself for his newly discovered behavior. And it broke my heart.
How could I persuade Ethan to stay without destroying him? I had no answers, just a quiet hope that our family would do it somehow.
For the time being, I just could only make care of Ethan and Jack, held the love I had for both, and prayed that what had happened would not tear us.
Conclusion
As the days passed, the tension in our house only grew. Jack’s transformation, albeit cordially charming on the surface, revealed cracks in the establishment of our family. The weight of Ethan’s imminent ritual hung over us like a dark cloud, and despite his assurance, I could not shake the feeling that something deep and irrevocable would change.
I tried to keep the moments of peace – fleeting smiles, simple conversations with Ethan – but the fear of what came to come remained. Jack, increasingly ignorance of the emotional storm raging below the surface, continued to help around the house, his innocence was a painful reminder of everything at stake.
I knew nothing would be the same as soon as Ethan left. But in the middle of all the uncertainty, I realized that I had to fight for our family. I didn’t know how, and I didn’t know if I could change Ethan’s mind, but one thing was for sure – I didn’t want to let our family tear tradition. So far, what I could have done was to stick to the love I had for Ethan and Jack, hope that somehow we could find a way to go through it together.
The journey ahead was unclear, but I was ready to face everyone who came because of my family.