Yes, I've been through those days and it's not as bad now. Even early in our marriage, W spent a lot of time on the phone w/her friends, during most of our problems it got much worse.
D called last night and asked if Mom had told me about getting rid of her cell phone. I said yes and I was somewhat surprised. She said Mom had told her she did it because you had "issues" with it. I laughed and said, "I didn't have "issues" with the phone. I have issues with your Mom." D said, "I know." and we dropped it.
It's been awhile since I talked alot about YS. He still thinks he's on top of the world....and he pretty much is, but I do occassionly get a chance to mess with him.
YS and his friends came over last night in a good mood. The gang was house hopping, scrounging for food and one of the guy's Dad gave them work shirts with his company logo on them, the local cable company. I'm not sure why, but the kids took it in stride and all 4 decided that are going to wear them to school tomorrow. "It'll be cool" YS said, even though the shirt is very small on all but one of them.
For whatever reason, they all thought this was incredibly funny and it loosened YS up to tell me more about his day than usual and it got him into trouble...again.
YS: Hey, Dad, listen to this. Me: What? YS: J (a friend) stole a couple of hall passes from the office and we forged our own hall passes to get out of class today. Me: Why? YS: 'Cause man(I get called "Man" when he thinks I'm cool), we decided we wanted to hang out in the athletic building for awhile. I told the teacher I was getting a call from the college. Me: And what did the coaches say about you hanging out over there? YS: Sheesh! Coach X doesn't care. We talked for a long time...and I found out what really happened to that Coach that got fired last year. Me: So, you forged a pass and cut class to BS with the coaches. Didn't it occur to you that you might get caught? YS: Heck no. The hall monitor is cool. He didn't even look at my pass and he wouldn't've (I don't think this is a real word but it's how he talks) said anything to me anyway. No way I'm gonna get caught. Me: And what to you call it when you come home and tell your Dad you did something stupid like that? YS: What? Me: I mean, you cut class. I find out and I'm not supposed to do anything? YS: Oh, come on! You wouldn't have known if I hadn't said anything... Me: Well, live and learn, Huh? I hope it was worth hanging out with me this weekend. 'Cause that's what you are going to be doing. YS: Come On...it was ART! Not like it was a real class or anything. Now how am I supposed to bond with you if you are going to pull cr#p like this? Me: Do you really think I stay up at night worrying about how we are going to bond??? YS: Sure, all parents do. Me: Uh-huh. Don't worry, I have all kinds of yard work we need to do this weekend. It'll be fun. Get up about 8... YS: In the Morning???? That's just not right. Me: Neither is skipping class. Even if it was Art.
About this time I was having fun and W knew it. She stepped in and took YS's side and got him out of being grounded, like I knew she would. But he's still helping clean up the yard....Sometimes stupidity is also a crime, and it's almost always entertaining.
