by Kami Cornwall
(Actual phone conversation with my mom)
Me: She's doing okay. It's funny...we are so different but always best friends. I sent her a poem for her birthday listing some of the crazy antics we pulled. Just a little trip down memory lane.
Mom: That's so fun. I bet she loved that.
Me: Yeah, I still can't believe some of the stuff we did!
Mom: *awkward silence*....hunh.....
Me: *Ahem.* So...how's the weather over there?
I'm nothing if not a smooth conversation changer. Skills, baby. Because I realized that I never told my mother half of what we did, nor do I feel it necessary now, even twenty years later. She would probably freak out.
"Well there was this one time when we snuck out of the campsite boundaries, crossed over to the reservation, and sat at a fire pit, burning old love letters from her ex-boyfriend, when these four really large drunk natives pulled up looking for some fun. Never ran so fast in my life!" I'm pretty sure that wouldn't have upset her in the least, right? Or all the times we walked to 7-11 in the middle of the night. That was the best time to go out. Smart? Never.
Or what about the time we drove around in her convertible and after hooting at every hot guy, one actually hopped in for a ride. That's when I realized we had no idea what to do next. The idea was fun, but there was no plan. It was the most awkward drive around the block ever. Then we dropped him back off and went home laughing. Dangerous? Whatev's. We lived on the edge, man!
So it got me thinking about what kind of trouble my boys might have already gotten into. Would they tell me about it? Probably not. And they're still in elementary school. What about when they're in High School? How will I be able to let them go to college? Why can't I just lock them in their rooms for the rest of their lives? They'd be safe there.
But those experiences are what we are here for. Okay, maybe not the stupid, dangerous ones...but maybe. All we can do is teach them to be careful, to follow the Spirit, and use some common sense. The rest is up to them. Scary!
Years ago my brother, sister and I were sitting in my mom's kitchen talking about our fun times when my siblings mentioned experimenting with drugs. My mom fled the room with her hands over her ears shouting I don't want to know. I looked around at both of them and said geez I thought I was a better example than that. I never did even think seriously about drugs.
ReplyDeleteWhenever my siblings and I get together, and my mom is there, we start talking about things we did and she usually puts her hands over her ears and screams, "I don't want to know!!!!"
ReplyDeleteSmart *
LOL. I remember my husband and his siblings talking during a visit for my in-laws 40th anniversary. Oh my! Now our children have started telling us little things here and there...but a lot of it I already knew! ha!
ReplyDeleteLove your post, btw. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteLike Rafiki says, "Its in the past!" but seriously....we all have stuff we never told, nor will tell our parents. I am sure I don't want to know all that my kids do....or do I?
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