Currently This

(an oldie from '02.)

As I was writing this entry, my fourteen year old called from school. She wants to know if she can go to X's house after school today, to practice their dance test with X and two other friends.

I've never met X. I've never met X's family. I ask all the pertinent questions: how will you get there, when will I pick you up, who else will be there and, to her horror, I want to speak to her parents. 

If you have a teenager, you know there are Cardinal Rules of Parental Conduct, the highest of these being Never Embarrass Me. What constitutes embarrassment, however, is vague and ever changing due to circumstances and hormonal fluctuations. Today, it was embarrassing not to be given carte blanche to go to a new place with people I have never met and worse, to have to speak to a parent, first.

I win, though. I always do, because I'm older, have more power and can take away her cable. She doesn't put up much of a fight and I think of those TV commercials where the kid is yelling at the parents to butt out and whispering to the audience that she needs them to butt in.

I get X's dad's cell number, and call him. He doesn't sound like he intends to rape the girls, but he probably wouldn't tell me if he did. I thank him for the invite, get the address and directions to his home, and agree to let my daughter go. I try very hard to let her have as much teenage normality as possible (this is the middle one) because her life is already so limited by the issues of her brother and sister.

I do mention to the dad that I perform castration as a hobby, that my husband, father, brothers and uncles are all LAPD officers, Superior Court judges and Mafioso and I mention my stance on vigilante justice (pro).

I like to keep things clear and upfront. Makes it easier to plea bargain the charges down later.