A recent BuzzFeed video...
One of my closest childhood friends used to be my "babysitter". Kristen is four years older than I am so my parents would ask her to stay with me when they'd go out for the evening. As I got older and no longer needed a babysitter, we still rode horses together and spent a lot of time with each other, forming a sisterly bond. Once I was in high school, my parents would agree to let me stay home mostly on my own when they'd travel as long as Kristen would stay at the house too. She was in college then and officially an adult, so she could be trusted. On one such occasion we took full advantage of Kristen's adult status. My parents left town on a Thursday. Kristen and I had spent the afternoon after school at the barn, with another horsey friend Robyn. The three of us then went out to dinner and came back to my house to watch movies and laughed and laughed. When it was time for Robyn to go home, reality set in that it was still a school night, and she and I had to get up early the next morning. Kristen, being in college, didn't have classes on Friday. So we talked her into using her guardianship to get us out of school the next day. Robyn showed up at my house the next morning and Kristen called the school as our mothers, telling them we were sick. We spent the day lounging about the pool and enjoying a day off. It went off without a hitch, with the exception of the severe sunburn I incurred having spent the entire afternoon at the pool slathered in baby oil. My parents never found out, and I figured the sunburn was my punishment - I couldn't ride my horse for almost a week.
Kristen and I have remained dear friends. During one of my mom's visits to the mainland, she and I met Kristen for drinks. After catching up with current events, we enjoyed reminiscing about old times. Since most of our time together as kids revolved around horses, those stories led into this particular one. Kristen and I laughed through it as my mom heard it for the first time. With a furrowed brow all she could respond at first was with a few "Oh"s. Then came a few, "I can't believe you both did that." She wasn't laughing with us or at us or at all. "Well," she said seriously, "I don't think it's all that funny."
I was a pretty good kid. The horses kept me mostly out of trouble, but there are few stories in my book, and this one was pretty tame in comparison. Mum's the word on any more secrets though, at least around my mom.
The mother and d look-a-like where the girl went out at night. Now that must've really scared the mom.
ReplyDeleteYours is very tame. At least if I believed that all that happened was your sweet patootie getting so roasted in the sun that you couldn't sit on it for a week was the limit of it :-). You sure you were't tail up beside the pool in Vegas.
And BTW, horses GOT more people into trouble than they ever kept out of it.
I said they mostly kept me out of trouble. :) After a few groundings and once being pulled off the horse in the middle of lesson after having been caught breaking some rule, the thought of losing them kept me pretty much in line.
DeleteThis one was super tame for the disproportional reaction it got. I think it was the former school teacher in her that came out after hearing I ditched school. Parents are always saying that they worry about their kids no matter what their age. It's kind of an interesting dynamic when the parent/child relationship becomes a friendship also. You tell your friends things you'd never tell your parents. That worry, even after the fact, probably gets in the way when they hear stories about their kids' bad decisions - thinking about what could have happened.
No, not Vegas, just the backyard. We were good girls in high school! Once the horses were no longer a factor and I moved across the country, it was easier to misbehave. :)
I think mothers expect daughters to push the envelope once away on their own. But what I think got her here was she was so certain she had everything sussed leaving her wondering what else she missed. And in truth I suspect she'd be gleeful about your war stories from university and new England. It's your dad, or any girls father who'd end up in a corner curled in a ball trying to un-hear the sounds. Your mother would see you as a fully functioning grown woman, your dad as a pigtailed 4 year old.
DeleteP.S. there's not a chance in hell I'd tell my mother about anything about me.
Ha! But why not?!?!
DeleteYes, though, I agree. I actually tend to keep my personal stories to myself when it comes to parents, but this one wasn't all that scandalous.
I didn't over share with my mother as an adult...first of all, I was a pretty good kid too. And second, I had a hard time lying to my folks, as I couldn't get away with it very well, she would have been very disappointed with some of the things I did get away with.
ReplyDeleteYah, I'm not a good liar either, so I just kept the truth to myself. Clearly, that was better for both of us. ;)
DeleteConsidering both my parents died before I reached adult status, I never had to share. All my kids are adults now, though (aged 25-35), and we've done our share of revealing to each other. That said, there are some unspoken (and spoken!) agreements on what's off limits to talk about. Nothing can clear a room faster than the mention of parental sex! ;)
ReplyDeleteI think they were all surprised to learn that we sometimes knew about their antics, but chose not to acknowledge them. As a parent, you learn to pick your battles and know what to let slide. And of course there will always be things they do that you miss.
Did you say "parental sex"? I had my fingers in my ears, rocking back and forth, singing la la la! :) That's off limits in my book too.
DeletePicking your battles, a good philosophy for all sorts of relationships.
haha.. we wouldn't be teenagers if we didn't break a few rules and cause a little harmless mischief.
ReplyDeleteHarmless mischief...exactly.
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