My 20-year-old son and I went on a cruise together. It was the first time we ever spent one-on-one time.

"My son is 20, but I can't think of a time when just the two of us hung out one-on-one. I went on numerous individual outings with his two sisters, shopping or dining at restaurants, but never alone with him. My recent two-week cruise to England, Scotland, and Norway was supposed to be a trip with my older daughter - and his twin sister -but she had to back out. My son stepped in, giving us a rare opportunity to connect as mother and son."

"When I learned the gender of my twins while I was pregnant, I'll admit I was nervous about having a boy and a girl. Everyone else we would have the "perfect" American family, but two girls sounded more manageable. I had no idea what it meant to raise a son. I grew up with two sisters, so boys were kind of a mystery. Even though I had a husband, I still felt unprepared to understand the male experience."

A mother had never spent one-on-one time with her 20-year-old son despite outings with his sisters. A planned two-week cruise to England, Scotland, and Norway with his twin sister fell through, and the son joined instead. The mother felt anxious about raising a son after growing up with sisters and tried to connect through shared activities like watching "Thomas & Friends", hosting a Minecraft party, and attending tennis matches. During the cruise, the son was the youngest passenger by decades but enjoyed socializing with mostly elderly, married shipmates. The unexpected extended time together allowed them to connect in a new, meaningful mother-son way.

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