Sometimes…
Sometimes this parenting gig really sucks. You see, it went down like this:
The boy’s work has a food item once a year in march, that’s full of minty green goodness. I prefer it mixed half and half with chocolate, because mmmmmmm chocolate mindy goodness! Every single year, since the store has opened in our area, I get this delicious mix of flavors without any problem. Until a couple days ago.
A couple days ago, my tastebuds were screaming for this once a year treat, and I hit up the drive thru for it. I was told that they couldn’t do that. I stammered “but… huh? since when?” and was told it wasn’t allowed. I said well, then pull TWO – one chocolate, one mintygreen, and pour half of each into a third cup and give it to me. They said no again. Color me disappointed. I had a large diet coke instead. Sigh.
That’s when I made the first mistake. I told my son. Who was all “aw HEYALL naw!” And, despite my protestations took me in, to ask what happened and again ask for the chocomint treat, before he decided to go behind the counter and make it himself. Someone narked – someone who has done her fair share of mistakes too.
Cue bedlam. Not right then, no, but when he went to check his schedule the next day. They suspended him for a day for “going behind the counter out of uniform and making a shake for his mommy, messing up the machine.” Yes, a professional write up included the word “mommy”. (cute rolling eyes HERE). And the machine was not messed up either.
Not only that, but now instead of 30 days to make crew trainer, they’re making him wait 6 months, and spent his entire shift yesterday berating him for this, and for half a dozen other things that were totally unrelated to him, while praising folks that have multiple write-ups for REAL reasons, etc. They even told him that we should have just asked them to pull two shakes and pour half of each into the third.
….uh. yeah. I did.
And yeah, cue mama feeling like shit for something that was thought by all involved to be all in fun – complain in fun, pick on the counter in fun, smiling managers having fun. Alas, something between the time we left, and the time he went back the next day to check his schedule made them decide it was ‘dump shit on The Boy day’. They made my kid feel like shit, they made my tough yet sensitive baby boy cry in frustration when he got home, and quite frankly, I’m mad as hell about it.
What really sucks, is that there’s nothing I can do about it, despite being the unwitting instigator of all of this. I have never been one to nark, but part of me wants to anonymously call and complain about the amount of messed up orders, the rude employees, the mishaps here and there that I know about. Part of me wants to rush in and demand they lay blame were it belongs – at the customer that complained and started all of this (which would be me) all for want of a chocomint treat.
All I can do, is hug him and talk to him and listen to him and try to give him ways to deal with this ball of shit thats rolling downhill. It’s clear that something’s going on higher up, and we all know that rolls downhill, especially in the fast food industry. He’s been told by the manager who is still on his side, to just put a happy face on it all for the next little while, and it’ll blow over. The boy doesn’t like putting on a happy face when he doesn’t feel it, but I all I can really do is encourage him to do the same.
It just plain sucks.
ETA: But I haven’t lost my touch to make him smile while facing a crap day. All it takes is rewriting Beyonce’s “Put a ring on it”. Observe:
Here’s my finger you can sit on it…
Here’s my finger you can sit on it…
Don’t be mad when i make you spin on it…
Here’s my finger you can sit on it…
Oh oh OH oh oh OH oh oh OH oh oh OH….
The boy: You really know how to make somone feel special, mom.”
With a smile, even.
I know. I’m not normal.
🙂
Sexting is the new black…
Back in the day, I remember how riske it was to snap a picture of myself in my nightshirt and shorts to give to my boyfriend to keep while I was away for the summer. Sure, he’d never seen me in said nightshirt before, and we’d not done anything past a bit of tonsil hockey, but it was the ‘remember me’ type of naughty that I knew he’d appreciate. Also, I knew mom wouldn’t notice or care about a picture where I was basically completely covered in when she went to pick them up from the developers.
Yeah, back in the day we had to send OUT our pictures for developing! Someone in another state would know all our faces and activities – before we even knew how good or bad the pictures we had taken were. With poloroids, it was instant gratification, and I’m sure some bewbs and butts showed up during the course of the camera’s picture taking life. But now?
Now everything is digital. Instant gratification of decent pictures that you can control completely – or so it seems.
You see, Sexting is the new word for sending naughty pictures – from saucy to erotic, from pg to x – via text message to your significant other. The problem with such things is that it doesn’t always stay within the confines of your boyfriend/girlfriends phone. For instance, one 20 year old male, a few years ago, got his 17 year old girlfriend at the time to pose for a picture on his phone. His next girlfriend located it, and sent the picture to the 17 year olds parents. You know what happened then? The 20 year old was charged with child pornography, and now much register as a sex offender! All because he had a nude photo of an ex girlfriend sent from his phone.
Yeah, it’s that serious. While taking a naughty picture seems harmless, many authorities are using the fullest extent of the law to punish such things as it usually involves teenagers – I mean child pornography? That’s harsh, folks. Some more stories:
— An Ohio teenager sent nude pictures of herself to a boyfriend and when they broke up, he sent them to other high school girls, who harassed Jesse Logan. The ordeal sent her into a spiraling depression.
In July, 2008, Logan hanged herself in her bedroom. She was 18.
— A 19-year-old Polk County man was accused of sending naked pictures of himself on his cell phone to a 14-year-old girl’s cell phone. Ronald Eugene Steward made his first appearance before a Polk judge this week and was ordered held under $105,000 bail.
— Over the weekend, Pinellas County middle school teacher Christy Lynn Martin, 32, was arrested on allegations she sent naked pictures of herself to the cell phone of a 14-year-old boy, an eighth-grader at Azalea Middle School, where she worked.
She was released this week after posting $20,000 bail.
So what do we do? Well, the obvious is that we need to talk to our kids – let them know what could happen, and what kind of limits we expect them to adhere too when taking pictures on their phones – swimsuits ok? Not ok? All covered up, all the time? ABSOLUTELY NO NUDITY EVER – better safe than sorry, right?
It’s important that you talk to your teen so that they understand the ramifications. Just because they think it won’t happen to them, doesn’t mean it can’t happen at all. Kids get jealous (adults too!) and vindictive, and things go wrong. The only actions that we have complete control over is our own – so play it safe.
Leave the naughty pictures to the poloroids. 🙂
(Yes, I know they’re no longer in production. That’s kinda the point!)
Are YOU ready?!
I know you’ve heard all that construction going on – and have been checking it out looking for the reason! Here it is!
are proud to announce
The Big Brother Experience!
Have you tried out for Big Brother and been rejected? Are you not quite sure that you want to be in front of cameras and leave your family for months? Do you wonder if you have what it takes to scheme, plot and endure your way to the title of BB Winner? Are you flat out BORED waiting for BB11?
Have WE got a DEAL for YOU!
The Big Brother Experience is an online, forum based version of Big Brother, complete with HOH competitions, POV and Food (explained in the game – we won’t make you eat slop!) Competitions, Nominations and Evictions – all played from the comfort of your own home, and your comfy couch! We don’t care if you wear fuzzy slippers and flannel pants, business suits, track suits or lingerie – we only care that you love the game, and are willing to Expect the Unexpected, even in online form!
Yes, there are other games out there, including the version that we split off from, but we figure there are plenty of folks out there wanting to try their hand at Big Brother – even online – and that there is enough love to spread around!
What makes ours different from the rest? Simply put, our sole aim is to play the game with heart and integrity, and to have a lot of fun along the way.
To help achieve that goal, The Big Brother Experience Team vows to allow the game to play out according to the efforts of the PLAYERS within the confines of the game, without manipulation or nefarious plots of our own. We will build competitions that are fair, yet difficult, and that cater to no one in particular. We will work within the confines of time zones to make things as fair as humanly possible to all involved, and we vow that above all – The Big Brother Experience is YOUR game, and as such, the player that plays the smartest, the hardest, the longest will win the title of Big Brother Experience Champion!
All we ask of you is that you play with heart, integrity. Respect the game, and have fun with us as you do it!
We are now casting for our first Big Brother Experience season, and invite you to fill out an application! You can find it here, and the forums are open for you to poke around and check out as well – from the set up, to the Arcade, to the rules and regulations that we will ask our participants to abide by!
And get those applications in SOON! Slots are filling up FAST!
Hope to see you soon at The Big Brother Experience!
College days
So, we’ve suddenly gotten a flurry of postcards and information from local and state colleges – probably due to my son being a junior, and a very big push to do everything “local” around here. There’s open houses, and information packets urging us to Call Today! and a variety of other papers from the High School itself. It’s sort of funny, because at this point in time, neither of my teenagers are planning on going to college. The boy, he’s determined to work, and take a -possibly lifelong – break from school. The girl is a freshman and just doesn’t want to think about it yet. And since I didn’t get my degree until I turned 34, I really see no point in pushing them toward a higher education that they don’t want, won’t like, and haven’t decided they need yet.
But again, as in oh so many areas, I’m not a normal mom. A lot of other parent’s in the area have been grooming their darlings to escape the state and attend bigger, better colleges in order to nab up those big paying jobs. I’d be willing to bet they get a nice case of hives when they check into how much it will cost, as well, and start urging the kids toward scholarships and grants, rather then loans.
We’re all looking for ways to save – and education costs is a part of that mission. Upromise knows this, and has decided to help out. Upromise has decided to give anyone – student, parent, grandparent or graduate a chance to tell their tuition tale and enter a contest with the chance to win a total of $30k for college expenses!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009 will be known as Tuition Tuesday. Upromise will kick off the contest, where they will search for the “most creative, entertaining and deserving individuals”. There are three categories: Saving for College; In College Now; and Paying It Back. It could be Nana explaining how her 3 year old grandbaby will become president, or a HS Senior singing his dreams of taking the concert world by storm. There will be three grand prize winners – $10k each – one from each category.
Here are the rest of the details:
Contest participants can enter from March 24 to May 3, on behalf of themselves or their family members and friends by uploading a 30 seconds or less video clip on why they or someone they know deserve money for college at Tuition-Tales.com.
During the voting period, May 6-May 12, the public will have a chance to vote for their favorite video and play the Tuition Tales instant win game for the opportunity to win daily prizes. The twelve videos with the most votes will receive a $250 Bed Bath & Beyond® Gift Card and enter the final voting phase, May 13-May 19. Three grand prize winners will be awarded $10,000 for college expenses.
Last year the Tuition Tales contest was only open to Upromise members and received more than 250 creative videos. This year the contest is open to the public – Upromise member or not. Contest participants must be at least 18 years old to enter.
So check it out today! After all, every little bit helps, right?
Seventeen.
I don’t know how it happened. I really don’t. One minute, he was red-faced and indignant, his hands balled up into fists as he screamed his defiance at having to leave the comfort and warmth of his bed, to be thrust into the cold unforgiving outside… and then, this morning, he’s red-faced and indignant, his hands balled up into fists as he screams his defiance at having to leave the comfort and warmth of his bed, to be thrust into the cold unforgiving outside world…
….hm. Well, maybe things haven’t changed as much as I thought in the past seventeen years!
Yes, today is my son’s 17th birthday. In the transition from that tiny squalling baby to the 6 foot tall young man, from small little baby toes to OMG LOOK AT THE SIZE OF HIS FEET – there have been so many milestones to be proud of. His first words, steps, friends, school year… right up to his first time behind the wheel, his first date, his first dance, his first job, his first car… It’s a whole bunch to process, here at 12:33am, almost 2 full decades after our first face to face introduction.
Words can’t properly convey just how proud of him I really am. He’s grown into a mouthy, smart-assed teenager, who’s strong and tough and sensitive and shy all at the same time, who has a work ethic that amazes his bosses and makes me proud, who will never ever turn his back on a friend. He is the one all the girls turn to when they need a strong shoulder to lean on, he’s the best friend, the buddy, the older brother that alternately drives his sisters nuts, and loves them unconditionally. He’s the one all the OTHER boys are scared of, so they won’t ask his sister out, he’s the one they know they can count on, no matter what they may need. He’s growing into a man with his father’s strengths, his mothers blue eyes, as well as her common sense – enough to know that bribing his mama with a Shamrock Shake and a photo goes a long way toward getting that late wakeup call on his big day.
Mmmmmmshamrockshakes…. Wait, where was I?
Ah, yes…
Happy birthday, baby boy! I love you more today than I ever would have believed possible 17 years ago! Thank you for making me a mom, for helping me grow up, for showing me what it really means to love. I’m proud of you.
Now clean your room.
🙂
