Kids think they can outsmart their parents so easily. I know I did. I remember taking a beer from the fridge to hide with the other four I’d procured over the past two months thinking no one would notice. Now I realize they noticed. Heck, I notice when a beer of mine in the fridge isn’t facing the same way it was the night before let alone an ENTIRE BEER missing.
The good news is that I was a surprisingly good kid and didn’t have to spend too much time trying to outsmart or trick my parents. They gave my brother and me a lot of trust and we didn’t abuse it too often. I’d like to say that’s because we were such saints, but I know our lack of adventure and distaste for danger were greater factors.
When I was in tenth grade I used to have friends over and we’d scurry our way up the stairs to the most secluded place in the house. Guys, girls, hormones and no parents. My parents would come up, expecting to find us drinking, smoking, making out or doing something similarly sinful. Instead it was guys on one side trying to hurt each other and the girls sitting on the other watching with bored eyes wondering what the eleventh graders were doing.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that I didn’t have a few occasions where I tried to get away with something by assuming my generation had invented drinking, drugs, and trouble. One Halloween a friend of mine chugged so much liquor that he vomited all over himself and lost consciousness. When my parents caught my friends and me dragging him down the stairs into the garage I came up with the “perfect lie” that he’d eaten too many ice cream bars at lunch. Sure, loss of consciousness is a symptom of excess sugar, right?
My parents didn’t buy it (actually my mother did, but my father did not) and his parents were called immediately. I tried one more rendition of the ice cream sandwich lie, but no one believed me when I said he’d eaten over 30 of them.
Not only were my parents smart enough to know when I was lying, but they were crafty enough to trick me and my brother at times. For about ten years I used to get little clips for Christmas. We’d always complain about how we kept getting the same, seemingly useless clips for Christmas until one year my brother goes, “Hey! These are roach clips!” My father looked at my mother and whispered “I told you this would be the year one of them knew what they were. I’ll search his room. Oh, and no need to give them the ‘lamp’ again this year.”
Of course, this doesn’t mean honesty and full discretion is advised. Certain aspects of your life should remain hidden from your parents. As too should certain aspects of their lives. Trust me, there’s nothing worse than being at the dinner table and watching as all four members of your family giggle awkwardly when someone mentions a hot-tub.
Each generation has to assume their superiority over their parents’ or else they will grow up without the cocky determination the need to reach their full potential. Where would our parents be if they didn’t think their parents would notice if they borrowed the car? Where would their parents be if they didn’t think their parents would notice if they borrowed the…light bulb? (It is only now that I realize I have no idea what it was like for my grandparents growing up). Let’s just hope that when we become parents our kid’s are responsible and good enough to keep out of trouble. Of course, there will be times when they do get into something that is more than they can handle. Let’s just hope they are smart enough to fess up and ask for our help when their friend has eaten too many ice cream sandwiches.
