Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Busted

Remember the first time you got busted by your parents? Today, one of my 8th grade students is paying the price for one of his bonehead decisions...

"John's" mom picked him up from an FFA meeting last night. The meeting had taken place after school, ending at 6pm. John looked surprised to see his mom, not his dad, picking him up as usual. The moment they arrived home, he made a beeline for the bathroom. After a few minutes, he walked out, a cloud of AXE spray in his wake.

Mom (eyebrows furrowed): "Were you smoking tonight????"

John: "No." (See, John thinks his mom fell off the turnip truck yesterday and can be fooled.)

Mom: "Let me smell you." (She sniffed his shirt.) "You reek of cigarettes!"

John: "I wasn't smoking; I swear! That's from walking over to Tim's house; you know his dad smokes!"

Mom paused for a moment.

"Let me smell your hands."

(Wow. Anyone who knows middle school boys know their hands are never washed and have been in/on many filthy places....handle bars, footballs covered with germs, their...um...pants. She was definitely taking a risk.)

John produced his hands (classic novice move; not washing your hands after smoking). The poor kid never had a chance...

I heard this story from John's mom this morning, before he even got to school. She didn't tell the rest of it, but her son later told me his version; he was pushed out the door and forced to sleep in the car last night.

Poor John moped around all day today. I didn't let on that I knew what had happened, even when he told me he was thinking about moving in with his grandma for a while because his mom was "really mad" at him. I didn't want to get into it, because what he didn't know (that I learned from another phone call) was that while he was at school today, his mom did some more detective work and found out that he didn't even go to the meeting last night; he and his friends walked around town, smoking cigs and talking smart.

If John thinks sleeping in the car was tough, I wonder what stories he'll have to tell tomorrow....

8 comments:

  1. WOW!

    Another example of mom's not being near as stupid as our kids think we are.

    I tell my kids that I know what tricks I pulled, so they don't have a prayer of pulling them on me.

    :) Terri

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  2. I feel the same way; I was the master at lying when I was a teenager. It takes one to know one, right?!

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  3. Amen sistah!

    BTW, thanks for the email about revisions...I have been so busy that I haven't even touched the novel, just wanted to say thanks, I still have it to check w/ my own revisions!

    Also may have to beg for some fondue recipes...my daughter LOVED the ideas about a slumber party, she's even been telling her friends about the Starburst...none of them have ever tried it either. We decided it was just too cold up north where you are and the Starburst must get so hard that ya just gotta melt em!

    :) Terri

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  4. Busted!
    I pulled a few slick moves while in High School. I think I got away with a few...
    I always thought, how does she (Mom)know?!
    Now I know it's something a Mom has "built in".
    ;)

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  5. Go Mom! She's a smart one! Hopefully John will come (or be brought to) his senses!

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  6. Oh my gosh, I'm terrified about my kids becoming teens....

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  7. i never got busted per se. i learnt by watching my older brother get caught time after time after time (ad nauseum). everyone needs an older brother to do that for them...well, except the older brother that is.

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  8. My kids still think I have eyes in the back of my head... they never stand a chance.

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