LMAO

When Evin came up with this prompt, I wasn’t sure exactly what to write about. There’s been a lot of emotions as of late, but few were LMAO-worthy. Leave it to my Mom to help me, unknowingly, with this prompt.

Living with three generations under one roof is AWESOME… and awesomely challenging. I have added adults to help with homework, we all work together to make the food and clean the clothes. We enjoy each other’s company so there are only a few short months when I come home to a completely empty house.

But apparently over the last 20 some-odd years, my mother has forgotten what it’s like to actually mother to a teen. She forgets that teens and tweens are quite literal when it suits their needs and can manipulate the English language when it doesn’t.

Case in point – When I tell the boys to move their phones to my room for charging at “electronic curfew” time, I have to be explicit. I can’t just say “Put your phone away.” I have to clarify – “Put away your phone, iPod, tablet, laptop and any other communication device until morning because it is bed-time as we’ve discussed one billion times before. Bring your charger and plug it in.” Heaven forbid I say “Bring me all of the electronics” instead because then the smart asses I’ve cultivated start asking about their alarm clock, tv, dvd player, etc. Because obviously that’s what I meant…

But that brings me to the latest round of “I outrank Nana.” It’s not a card I usually have to play because Mom is really VERY good about boundaries…

photo credit

Mom went grocery shopping the other day and bought ice cream. We have several freezers and try to keep them stocked because let’s face it… raising teens/tweens/children of any age, requires ice cream. And Wine. and we stay pretty stocked on both.

So she tells the boys – “There’s ice cream in the freezer you can have whenever you want.”

Which is exactly what my boys heard.

What she meant however was “I bought ice cream and if you want some, all you need to do is ask your mother.”

So last night, after a particularly grueling round of bargaining to get some of the homework done…

You only need to do 10 questions and 6 answers on that assignment.

Please focus Giant. Do 2 questions and then you can go check the mail. It doesn’t need to be checked right this very second.

Ok two more questions and then we’ll have a snack.

Please focus… dinner’s almost ready and then you can have your phone back…

Dinner had been consumed. Dishes had been done. Showers taken. I enjoyed some TV with the parents while Giant hid in his room and talked to his *gulp* girlfriend until 10:00. 10:00 is the electronics curfew and bedtime. Especially since we have to get up at the butt-crack of dawn for swim.

Giant dutifully brings his communication devices in promptly at 10 and plugs them in. We say our good-nights and I assume that he is headed to bed… and then I hear someone rattling around in the kitchen. By this time, Mom and Dad are usually asleep in their chairs “watching” tv with their eyes closed, so I head down to check it out.

And there is my Giant. Helping himself to some ice cream. After bedtime. Because after all, Nana said he could.

Join in for the Axis of Ineptitude writing prompts all month long! Never to late to join. No pressure to do all of them!