Earlier this summer I rode downtown on the Metro with the mom of one of my teen son's friends. We have known each other since our boys were in kindergarten together but haven't seen each other in a while. We settled quickly into a catch-up conversation.

I learned that her youngest son was doing pretty much what my oldest is doing this summer – being bored before he leaves for camp. She shooed him out of the house and told him to go volunteer and so he is now cutting up vegetables at a local shelter. Her daughter is heading off to a gap year before college, and her oldest son is doing well, living with a nice group of friends and working at a job he loves.

To read the rest:

http://www.currentmom.com/currentmom/2010/08/an-internal-compass.ht...