Parental Vault of Responses

Good Morning! Today is Thursday and my looong day, so I will keep this relatively short....Bye-bye Tink (she's on her way to school now).

As Thanksgiving looms large, Buddy is preparing to come home. Tomorrow we will pick him up and have three uninterrupted hours of conversation before we speak through texting and his closed bedroom door. However, before we leave, I want to see the "palace" that he is going to live in next year with Dog, California, and OC. All along, his plan has been to live with Dog and California, however OC is new in the equation. They have been playing "musical room mates" for the past two months. Each week, the fourth room mate has changed. His friend, Einstein had to bow out because he had signed a two-year lease last year and did not realize it (oy!). His other high school friend fell through for another issue. Angel and Big Red are moving on to another group of guys. And so it goes, we now have OC who is from southern California. Furthermore, it has been reported on a number of occasions that California will be drafted by a Major League team this year and therefore will pack his duffel bag, blankie, and cleats and head out of town without looking back to say buh-bye!

I suppose I am thankful that Buddy has so many room mate options. I pray that he is not making a mistake like he did this year, 'cause the late night calls are not fun to answer as he complains about rapping, odd behaviors, and food hoarding. All of these experiences, however, will make him a man. He needed to live with people that he did not get along with in order to develop the skills that he will need in life. We do not always have the luxury of working with people that have similar temperaments, values, and personalities...therefore, he is learning to cope with a variety of stressors with the guidance of his parents. In contrast, we have had to develop a litany of rebuttals to his usual: "you will not believe this one..."

Some of our responses that are in the parental vault include:
-"Get over it"
-"Tough one, Man, what are you going to do?"
"No, the trainer is not a 'weight-Nazi'...."
-"Say a prayer..."
-"uh huh....uh huh....hmmmm...hmmmm"
-"Get over it..."
-"Didn't I tell you that this will backfire?"
-"No, the teacher does not hate you. You are one person in a class of 500. He does not know who you are..."
-"Next time, open the book and read it before you take the test..."
-"You do not have to go to every party that you are invited to...."
-"Get over it..."
-"I did go to college, you know..."
-"This will pass...."
-"Be careful and think this one through...."
-"Don't do anything stupid..."
-"Get over it..."

And so, these experiences certainly add a layer of spice in our otherwise quiet lives. Therefore as Thanksgiving approaches, I will continue to count my blessings beginning with the big kid and Tink. Dad and I are fortunate to have the unpredictable wackiness in our lives and will never stop being grateful.