I got grounded a lot when I was younger. One day I told Mom I was going shopping in Rochester with my friend Tara and her family. Tara told her mom the same thing. We actually spent the day at Tara's boyfriend's house drinking Dr. Mcgillicuddy's and making out with our boyfriends. Two hours after the time I told Mom I would be home, she called Tara's house and talked to her mom. Silly moms figured out neither of us were in Rochester with the other's family. I had no idea when I pulled into our driveway that Mom had caught on. She stopped my boyfriend and I halfway up the driveway. She stood in front of the truck he was driving. Then she pulled me out of the truck and started screaming at me. She dragged me into the house. She didn't even let me kiss my boyfriend goodbye.
She grounded me, but my groundings never stuck. I had three older siblings who had softened my mom up for me. If I had been the oldest, I know I would have never gotten away with all the things I did.
One night when I was 17 my parents spent the evening at their friends' house in Austin. Austin is a good 45 minute drive, so I felt safe they would be gone a few hours. I invited my new boyfriend and his friends over to have some beers and hang out.
After about an hour, we saw headlights coming up the driveway. It was too late to run and hide, so we all just sat at the kitchen table hoping for the best. Mom came in and said, "What is going on here?" Prime example of growing soft, if it had been Danny or Mary and their friends she would have kicked in their car windows and slashed their tires.
I was scared, but she just circled the table picking up beer cans. "Oh," she said, holding a can of Bud Light, "How can you drink such cheap beer? This will make you so sick."
We all laughed uncomfortably. She then sat at the table. "So, Mom, what were you and Dad up to tonight?" I asked trying to ease the mood.
"I was with my friends, we learned a new number at Belly Dance Class" she answered. One of the boys, trying to be nice, said "That is cool."
Mom got a big smile on her face and said, "Really? Ok, let me show you." She walked over to the CD player, which was on the microwave that we had never plugged in but made a really good table, and put in her new dance CD.
She started to do a solo belly dance in the kitchen for my boyfriend and his four friends. Mom would dance in front of each boy for a few moments smiling and undulating. It was worse than having to explain slashed tires. When she was done, all the guys complimented her through blushed smiles. They had a new appreciation of the ancient art of the belly dance.
Mom in her belly dancing outfit
I was so embarrassed, but for her next act she pulled frozen steaks out of the freezer and cooked them up for my tipsy friends. It was beyond embarrassing for me but a nice night for a 17 year old boy: a dance from a lady, some beers, and a good steak.
When I was a senior in High School mom did the same. However, it was all guys. We had been out drinking and ended up at the farm and she made steaks for about seven of us. Lots of fun.
ReplyDeleteApparently this is an old family tradition. Grandma used to do the same for them when they were growing up and Annie A was rumored to have always fed Uncle Bob (Molly's godfather) and his buddies after a night of partying.
P.S. Your welcome. Mary and I took some lumps breaking in Mom and Dad.
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