Oooo-hoooo, Gunnar is MAD at me!
We have a rule around here that when its this cold outside, the kids must either wear snowpants or long-johns under their pants. Ardan and Lena have no problem with wearing snow pants (they haven't reached that age yet), but heaven forbid Gunnar wear something as 'uncool' as snow pants. And so he always does the long-john thing.
So this morning, about ten minutes before he had to leave to catch the bus, I wanted to confirm that he had them on. 'Yep, I'm wearing them'. For real, you are? I didn't see you go downstairs to put them on. Show me the bottom part. So he lifted his jeans up a bit, all I saw was ankle. Where's the long-johns? 'Uh, the bottom is up by my shin.' Oh really? Let me feel then. I pinched a bit of jean to see if I could feel that waffle texture underneath. Nope. Oh really? You wanna look me in the eye and tell me you're wearing long-johns? Silence. Eyes averted. You lied to me, Gunnar. Flat-out lied. So guess what your punishment is? You get to wear the snow pants to school. So go ahead, put them on.
He trudged downstairs to get them, a black cloud of anger and resentment hanging over him. And oh boy, was he mad at me. Wouldn't even look at me as he got ready to go. Usually its all smiles and 'goodbye!'s... not today. Just muttering under his breath. Out the door he stormed, slamming it closed.
I'm not too upset about it. I mean, I hate being the 'bad guy' but when it comes to the health and well-being of my kids, I'll willingly take that role if it means prevention of frost-bite or worse. Like, c'mon Gunnar! Its -27 out there right now with wind chill! What did he expect, honestly?
My hard-nosed stance could have had something to do with the fact that I busted him yesterday after school for wearing friggin' skater-shoes to school, when he KNEW he was supposed to wear his boots. We have another rule, when the thermometer reads anything below -10, its the boots. I'm willing to let that rule slide when its above that temp; I'll let him get away with wearing the shoes -- even though every motherly instinct screams at me that he should be wearing the boots. So yeah, after busting him on that, I probably came down a little hard.
If there is one thing I cannot stand, its my kids lying to me. I've told them time and again, you're going to get in a heck of a lot more trouble just for the lie than the actual transgression. And they always get busted because I can sniff out a lie like a bloodhound. You'd think the bugger would have learned by now.
The funny thing is that I remember with crystal clear clarity, being that age and thinking the exact same thing: that my parents were lame for making me wear my winter boots and snow pants. And oh, how I raged against the injustice of being made to look 'uncool', showing up to school in clunky boots and snow pants that made me look 'fat' (they didn't but that's how a teenage girl's mind thinks, right?).
So now I've officially crossed over in that 'lame parent' territory and you know what? Its not too bad! So he's mad at me and was probably muttering some choice words about me as he clomped all the way to the bus stop, but at least he's warm and frostbite-free.
And when HE becomes a parent and has to deal with the exact same situation, I'm just going to laugh and smile and nod my head. The torch will have been passed, one more lame parent.
2 comments:
OMG BeauSaxon, you're turning into a mama hagar LOL
Reading this was a deja vu moment .. absolutely no lying, winter clothes on IN THE WINTER (shoes were not an option, at all, but then we lived in the country so that's a different issue) and remember I used to tell you guys that all it took was one complaint to Social Services from a neighbor who thought you guys weren't dressed properly and the government would come take you away .. to live in foster homes until we could prove we were good parents (that's the only lie I could think of that might persuade you to keep dressed properly while waiting for the school bus because by then I was gone, driving to work) ..
Hey, how does it feel to be a hag? You've done your job well.
Mom
Thanks Mom, I'm proud to be a Hag! Haha.
It was just so weird. A lot of times I so closely identify with that teenage-mentality because it seems just like yesterday that I WAS one. (Which is why a lot of the time I cut the kids some slack.) But that situation, it was like 'No dammit, I AM the parent and YOU are the child' and weighing the lameness vs safety, it was obvious what any parent would choose. (GOOD parents I mean; according to Gunnar there's still kids going to school in shoes in -30 weather!) But you know, Gunnar, he's got a smart head on his shoulders, I KNOW he gets my point, but peer pressure to be seen as 'cool' is such a bitch, isn't it?
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