Trying to get back into drawing

I have always enjoyed doodling. I thought at one point I would like to draw. My dad and 2 of my brothers are quite good artists. I thought perhaps I would have a chance to be good too. I do have creative talent, and some artistic talent.
But something happened and I fell out of it. I was never very good at following direction (I can do this myself!), didn't have the patience to do what it took to be a good drawer.
Patterns, Lines, Zentangles...its on, I can doodle all day. But when it comes to people and faces (realistic) etc...well I never quite graduated past the childish.
I have friends who are amazing artists and I knew I would never be as good as they were, so I didnt bother to try.  My parents really helped me develop other artistic areas(like music) , and I put drawing and art on the backburner.

But, I found that once I started doing hair full time, something kind of unlocked in my brain. I started becoming better at the art thing. My kids would ask me to draw something, and to my surprise, I could actually do it.  I
My 10 year old always tells me "MOM! How did you get to be such a good artist?" I tell him with honesty, I dont know, and I am not as good as you think I am. You just dont know any better.

Now F, he really has quite a bit of natural talent, and has been wanting to better his skill.  I, of course, am the worst person to teach him, unless he wants to make cool patterns and henna designs all day. But he seems to think I am the right one to do it, so he and I are taking this voyage together.

So I have pulled out the books(Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards is a great starting point. I have had this book for 20 years, and pulled it out to go over some of the exercises) and gone on youtube and started messing around. I have discovered that if I take my time, and I really pay attention to what I am doing, I can do it.
The best tutorials I have found are on a youtube channel by markcrilley.  He is an author/illustrator.  he does a lot of manga and comic book stuff, but also has some GREAT tutorials on realistic drawing.

It is all about basic simple lines and then adding the values. Shading and light/dark.  So here are some of my first attempts at realistic faces.

The Nose.  Not great, but not altogether suck either.  Little too curved on the right, but practice practice practice.

The eye.  I actually like this. This was my second attempt, and all in all, apart from a wobbly looking iris, I'm halfway pleased with it.

The Lips.  Who knew lips and mouths and teeth could be so complex!! But I am really pretty shocked at how well that came out.

The Ear. Hmmmm, I think it is kind of difficult to make an ear look realistic, I feel like the lines are a little too heavy/illustrated.

My mishmash.  You can see the first eye attempt bottom right. I like the shape, but the iris and pupil did not turn out the way I wanted it to. I definitely like the defined shine reflection of the top one. Also ignore the profile with hair, not my art.

So I have decided to keep practicing and really taking my time and learning how to do more and more. I would like to be able to show F how to draw and help him develop his talent. And at the same time, re-develop mine and unlock more of my creative side

Is one thing drawing an eye. Its quite another to draw TWO of them on the same face and have it look symmetrical and good.