Just want my 12 year old to smile

[sunnydayinmay]

My 12 year old DS has always been serious, and taken everything to heart, but now he is mid puberty, everything seems so serious and anxious, he hardly smiles.

He is doing very well at secondary, and has good friends. Works hard, good results etc, but I seem to be constantly asking/thinking of ways to make him have fun.

Even his hobbies involve serious work or competition. He has just come home from a club, in tears, because he felt he didn't do well and had words with the coach (which is not like him, as he is obsessed with rules and behaviour). This is supposed to be his fun time, but he is in tears over it.

He pushes himself so much, and is so driven, I just despair. I want him to do something just for the sheer pleasure and fun of it.

The only true pleasure he has is good food, which he loves, but even that is being chipped away at by his bloody food tech teacher, and her obsession with how much red meat a child should eat. He was in a state last week, because he was convinced he is overweight (he does not have an ounce of fat on him, and has grown 6 inches this year). And has red meat twice a week!

I know this is rambling, but I just want him to smile. No idea where to go from here.

[sunnydayinmay]

Oh, and we deliberately chose a school that was not over pressurised (the one he wanted to go to, with his friends), and we have never put pressure on him at home regarding school work, or clubs. Happy to encourage and support, but he absolutely knows that we are not pushing.