Hangover Hero
- At May 26, 2011
- By Roxanne Snopek
- In Life, Roxanne Writes On
- 0
Now that I’ve finished my 100 days of Bikram yoga, I don’t know what to title my posts. I still did a class today… that would make 101 classes… if anyone cares… maybe I’ll start counting the days out of 365, as in, “how many yoga classes can I do in 2011?”
Hm. That’s an idea. Stay tuned.
In other news: I’m the goat-parent today. Yes, you read right. As of this morning, I had two out of three daughters miffed at me. (It’d probably be a hat-trick but the third doesn’t live here anymore.)
And the remarkable thing is, it feels okay.
I have a poodle-like need to have people not be mad at me. I’m a first-class conflict-avoider, a peace-keeper, a comforter, a pleaser. I’m not proud of it, but there it is. (I’d like to point out here that the Mennonites built a whole religion around conflict-avoidance, except they called it Pacifism, and it got them out of fighting in wars. We’re still a fairly agreeable lot.)
So for me to feel okay about this is… new.
But you’re probably wondering when I’ll get around to the “Hangover” part of this post. Alright, here you go.
Our 16-year old has been wanting to go to The Hangover II movie, which comes out tonight. She’d mentioned it a few times, but I guess I’d filed it in the “Think About This Eventually” area of my brain.
“Can you drive me and my friend to the theatre?” she asked yesterday, finally coming straight to the point.
“Sure,” I answered. “No problem.” Agreeable, remember?
“And, um, will you buy the tickets?”
“Why?” Oblivious, naturally. I was probably chopping vegetables or something.
“Well,” she hedged. “They might not let us buy them.”
“Why not?” Still not getting it. Or maybe I was distracted by onions.
“Hm… well… it’s a restricted movie.”
Aaaaand the penny dropped.
“Let me get this straight.” I looked at her enormous, blue, beseeching eyes. “You want me to sneak you and your friend into a movie that you wouldn’t otherwise be allowed into because the powers that be deemed it inappropriate for people in your demographic.”
“Uh-huh!” She nodded eagerly.
Now this is a girl who’s seen the first Hangover movie, in the comfort of our home, in the company of her parents. Yes, all the inappropriate content, the foul language, everything. Supervised exposure and open communication about such content has always been my policy. I figure being homeschooled for 10 years puts her behind the times, exposure-wise, so I think of it like a vaccine.
But actively participating in such sneakery? I could probably go along with it if it was just my kid, but her 16-year old friend? Whose parents I haven’t met? You never know what kind of crap could rain down on you. Not comfortable.
Which made her mad. Mad! (We have a close relationship, and she’s a pleaser, like me, so this was something of a breakthrough for both of us.)
But I held firm. Then I pulled out the crisp, rarely-used “Ask your father” card.
Her face fell. This was not the answer she was looking for. In her experience, Mom says yes, Dad says no. Mom encourages, Dad cautions. Mom says “why not?” while Dad tells you the 50 ways it could kill you.
But he surprised her.
“Sure,” he said. “I’ll drive you and I’ll stay for the movie, too. In case you need an adult.”
I pretended to be surprised, too. I know he doesn’t get as many chances as I do to be the hero-parent. So today, it’s his turn. And he gets to see a movie that I probably wouldn’t go to with him. (I mean, I’ll watch it at home… if there’s nothing else on… but pay to see it in a theatre? Meh.)
And I get the TV to myself tonight.
Win-win-win.