Some Are Tougher To Teach

I hope I have headed it off at the pass. I hope I made myself clear. I hope.

I have two boys. Neither is like the other. Their sense of humors resemble. That's it. Everything else is different. One is as calm as the other is nervous. One is as laid back as the other is frantic. One is as mild tempered as the other is hot tempered. One tried me twice in his first 18 years, the other is almost 16 years old and has tried me at least a hundred.

He tried me again last night. Not the wisest thing to do, two weeks before he starts driving alone. He was to be home by 10pm. He got here...but not before his buddy Michael drove like a bat out of hell to get him here. From their girlfriends house. Six minutes away. You ask how I know this? Because at one minute til 10:00, and no Zach, I went to sit on the front porch glider. To welcome him home.

They squealed the truck to a stop at my curb. Michael rolled the window down and hollered out "It was my fault Mrs. Michelle". I hollered back, "We'll talk about it later, Zach and I are going to talk about it now". We didn't have a come to Jesus, but we had a definite, this is the way it's going to be.

He told me he was on time. I told him, I saw him jumping speed bumps from the stop sign up the street to get here. He told me it was Michael's fault. I told him, it might have been Michael's fault, but it was now, his problem. I told him I gave him instructions of what time to be home. Not Michael. It was his responsibility to make sure Michael understood the rules. He obviously did not. Make Michael understand.

I told him, two weeks from now, he would need to be trusted with responsibility. I told him, two weeks from now, I was not going to have a tummy ache every time he left my house. He could sit right here with me. On the couch. Where I could see him. Then my stomach wouldn't worry or hurt at all. It made no difference to me.

Once I had calmed down, and he could tell I was winding down. He made a mistake. Decided to try and joke me out of what was left, of my mood. He said, "You should have seen Micheal's face when he saw you sitting in the swing"..and was laughing. I was not laughing and said, "You should see the look on a Daddy's face when you bring his daughter home late.  It won't be good for you son". And I added, "You need to tell Michael, next time I will be at the foot of the driveway, and it won't be good for either of you".  And I finished with..."And if I ever hear about you driving like a crazy person to get a girl home, or yourself...you will be sitting on the couch across from me..so I won't have to worry. You will not put anyone elses life at risk because you aren't responsible and are not paying attention to time."

The ending mood was somber. He went in the house to go to bed. And to get away from me. I did the same. Mims asked me how it went. As he had went to bed, and left me outside alone in the swing. He is not fond of "scenes".  I am not fond of kids in car wrecks from foolish behavior. And if I have to look at Zach, for the next few years, sitting on my sofa from time to time, I will. It is my job to get him grown and responsible. And I will. Even if he becomes a couch potato in the process.

copyright © 2011 Michelle Mount Mims