A Daughter's Retort

It’s all about maintaining the facade.

Your parents have to believe that they are all knowing, all powerful, and that there is no possible way that you can sneak anything past them.

Ever.

It’s the whole masquerade that makes them believe that they’ve still got ‘it’, whatever ‘it’ may be.

Parental Point of VIew

I am re-running this article for you, mostly because I think it may help a few fathers out there deal with their kids.

Or not. Next week I'll publish my darling daughter's response to this article. 

You tell me...

http://www.mobiusengine.co.uk/page/3/

It's all about maintaining the façade. Your kids have to believe that you are all knowing, all powerful and they won't get away with anything - ever. It is the mask you present to them that says "Nothing you do will surprise me".

Even when it does.

As a kid, I always thought that I was being sneaky and getting away with staying out late. Then I would get home and Mom would be there, supposedly just getting a drink of water or reading a good book.

Seeing Things Differently

www.chiefscientist.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/aurora-borealis.jpg

Have you ever seen anything that was so different, that you couldn't quite comprehend what you were seeing? I'm talking about things like seeing the Aurora Borealis for the first time, or green thunderclouds, or a bug that looks like a leaf. It takes a few seconds to process sometimes. Maybe a few minutes, depending on what it is or who you are…

There was the time when I was at a friend's place and we were walking past her brother's room. It was the 1980's and it was a younger brother, so the décor was very much the young teenager look. Blacklight posters, clothes on the floor, bed unmade - wait, I think I'm describing my kid's room right now!

Thunderstorms and Bicycles

I had decided that in order to save money and get into shape, I would ride my bike to work during the spring and summer. The thing was, I was living at the bottom of a river valley and the airport where I worked was up on the flats, ten kilometers away with an elevation gain of 240 meters. That's six miles and 800 feet, for you Imperial folks.

It worked out reasonably well, except for the first week of riding. That was (and still is) a long hill. Really long. And I always was heading into the prevailing wind. The worst part was after I had a shower and cleaned up at the airport, I still had to climb three flights of stairs to get to the office. That final staircase took about twenty minutes sometimes.

Mixed Signals

Things are pretty clear cut when you're a kid. As a babe, our eyes are always wide open, trying to make sense of the world. As we get bigger, we have a chance to test out different things, mostly by putting them in our mouths or hanging onto them for dear life.

We were pretty smart then. We would taste dirt and for most of us, never have to taste it again, knowing it was not a good snack. Pointy things like a spruce tree branch looked cool, but after the first (or maybe second) grab, it would be clear that pointy looking things were, well, pointy and not fun to hold.