Zulu 36
09-05-09, 01:33 PM
OK, just had living proof of the difference between girls and boys walk into the house. My 11-year old son came in, went to the kitchen and started to fix a snack. I walked in and he has big raw bloody patches on his elbows and knees and the pad of one hand, with trickle of blood going down one calf.
What happened to you? "Oh, I fell doing some stunts on my skateboard."
Why weren't you wearing your pads? "I was." I gave him "The Glare." He says, "I forgot." (I have a set of pads for him at my house as he never remembers to bring his set from his mom's. Never forgets his $130 skateboard though).
Go clean yourself up. "Can I do it later, Dad? Caleb's outside waiting for me."
No, do it now and why are you handling food with those nasty hands (noted clumped dirt and blood all over his hands)? "They aren't THAT dirty, Dad."
Jesus Christ. Go clean up and get out of my kitchen looking like that. "Mumble, mumble, OK, you don't gotta yell."
He comes back, water dripping all over the floor. Show me your hands. Still nasty. Did you use soap? "Yeah." (offended tone). Check bathroom, soap is bone dry.
OK, smartass, strip, get in the shower and do it right. "Shower??!! I took one last night." Yeah, and you're taking another one now. "But the water n'stuff will hurt my scrapes." Tough. Get in there. Don't get out until I inspect you.
He does, accompanied to much, "Oh, ow, ah, ouch, oh, etc."
His scrapes are still dirt encrusted, etc. So I cleaned them out with surgical soap and a washcloth and much, "Arrgh, Dad!! Ow, Dad!!!" Next time wear your pads. "I will! I will! I promise!"
I KNOW I'll catch him later today boarding without his pads. And if he hurts himself again, I'll clean him up with a surgical scrub brush - bristle side.
Had something half that catastrophic happened to one of my daughters at age 11, I would have had a hysterical child screaming for Mom, Dad, God, and 9-1-1 while she was still on the sidewalk.
The boy just wanders in, 10-minutes after the event, like nothing was wrong. He wants to be a Marine. I think he has the attitude.
What happened to you? "Oh, I fell doing some stunts on my skateboard."
Why weren't you wearing your pads? "I was." I gave him "The Glare." He says, "I forgot." (I have a set of pads for him at my house as he never remembers to bring his set from his mom's. Never forgets his $130 skateboard though).
Go clean yourself up. "Can I do it later, Dad? Caleb's outside waiting for me."
No, do it now and why are you handling food with those nasty hands (noted clumped dirt and blood all over his hands)? "They aren't THAT dirty, Dad."
Jesus Christ. Go clean up and get out of my kitchen looking like that. "Mumble, mumble, OK, you don't gotta yell."
He comes back, water dripping all over the floor. Show me your hands. Still nasty. Did you use soap? "Yeah." (offended tone). Check bathroom, soap is bone dry.
OK, smartass, strip, get in the shower and do it right. "Shower??!! I took one last night." Yeah, and you're taking another one now. "But the water n'stuff will hurt my scrapes." Tough. Get in there. Don't get out until I inspect you.
He does, accompanied to much, "Oh, ow, ah, ouch, oh, etc."
His scrapes are still dirt encrusted, etc. So I cleaned them out with surgical soap and a washcloth and much, "Arrgh, Dad!! Ow, Dad!!!" Next time wear your pads. "I will! I will! I promise!"
I KNOW I'll catch him later today boarding without his pads. And if he hurts himself again, I'll clean him up with a surgical scrub brush - bristle side.
Had something half that catastrophic happened to one of my daughters at age 11, I would have had a hysterical child screaming for Mom, Dad, God, and 9-1-1 while she was still on the sidewalk.
The boy just wanders in, 10-minutes after the event, like nothing was wrong. He wants to be a Marine. I think he has the attitude.