a not so young-ster
The youngster came up to me the night before last with a request.
"Can I go visit a friend tomorrow?"
"Sure, I guess so. Who is it?"
"Well, that's the thing. It's (very long pause) a girl. Kinda my girlfriend."
"And what's her name, and where does she live?"
"Her name is Jane (real name changed to protect all of the mostly innocent) and she lives in Tiger Woods (real development name changed to do the same)."
"Why have I never heard of Jane before?" I wondered aloud as I also wondered if Jane would agree to the same designation of "kinda my girlfriend" the youngster gave her.
"You've seen her. Remember the girl I was hanging out with at the baseball fields? She goes to Nearby Middle School. I've seen her at Nearby High School football games, too. We're talking on IM now and she asked if I could come over tomorrow."
OK, so I vaguely remembered him running around with a teammate and some girls after a few baseball games this past spring, but I had no idea who Jane is. Visions of my son being duped by some sex offender in a chat room went dancing through my head, followed by more realistic worries (since he apparently knows Jane) of going to someone's house unsupervised. I don't know her. I don't know her parents and I don't know if they'll be home. So I tell him, get the chores done and then...I want to talk to her parents.
So yesterday came, and he's doing the things he needs to do and then...."can I go to Jane's?"
"Well, I haven't talked to a parent yet. How do you plan on getting there?" Knowing full well I would be taking him. Besides, I had errands to run and Tiger Woods was on the way.
A few minutes later he told me her mom was busy, but she'd call soon...and she did. I had a short conversation with Mrs. Doe, who assured me there would be parental supervision, and that they were going to watch some movie on TV. She asked if I knew how to get there, and I told her I knew where Tiger Woods was and had their address, which I looked up in Google Maps, so yeah...I could find them.
I packed the youngster up and dropped him at the Doe residence, where I saw Mrs. Doe and Jane let him in. I left him with instructions to call me with details of how and when he was to come home.
The hours passed while I did other things, but soon it was closing in on dinner time, and no contact from the youngster. I called him on his cell phone and asked, "Are you OK?"
(a very exasperated) "Yeah dad."
"So, when are you coming home?"
"A very long time from now."
"Well, it's dinner time. Are you eating there?" (hearing in the background as he asks Jane, "Am I eating here?" and an "I don't know.") "No bud, if nobody actually invited you, you aren't eating there. I'll be there at 7:00 you pick you up."
(another even more annoyed) "OK, Dad."
I went back to Tiger Woods to pick him up. Mrs. Doe said I have a very sweet son (he was working on the first impression thing). We got in the car and I asked what they did all day. They watched a movie, went for a walk and talked a lot...and he really likes her. Your basic 13 year old low budget first date, I guess.
Suddenly, the youngster isn't so young anymore.
"Can I go visit a friend tomorrow?"
"Sure, I guess so. Who is it?"
"Well, that's the thing. It's (very long pause) a girl. Kinda my girlfriend."
"And what's her name, and where does she live?"
"Her name is Jane (real name changed to protect all of the mostly innocent) and she lives in Tiger Woods (real development name changed to do the same)."
"Why have I never heard of Jane before?" I wondered aloud as I also wondered if Jane would agree to the same designation of "kinda my girlfriend" the youngster gave her.
"You've seen her. Remember the girl I was hanging out with at the baseball fields? She goes to Nearby Middle School. I've seen her at Nearby High School football games, too. We're talking on IM now and she asked if I could come over tomorrow."
OK, so I vaguely remembered him running around with a teammate and some girls after a few baseball games this past spring, but I had no idea who Jane is. Visions of my son being duped by some sex offender in a chat room went dancing through my head, followed by more realistic worries (since he apparently knows Jane) of going to someone's house unsupervised. I don't know her. I don't know her parents and I don't know if they'll be home. So I tell him, get the chores done and then...I want to talk to her parents.
So yesterday came, and he's doing the things he needs to do and then...."can I go to Jane's?"
"Well, I haven't talked to a parent yet. How do you plan on getting there?" Knowing full well I would be taking him. Besides, I had errands to run and Tiger Woods was on the way.
A few minutes later he told me her mom was busy, but she'd call soon...and she did. I had a short conversation with Mrs. Doe, who assured me there would be parental supervision, and that they were going to watch some movie on TV. She asked if I knew how to get there, and I told her I knew where Tiger Woods was and had their address, which I looked up in Google Maps, so yeah...I could find them.
I packed the youngster up and dropped him at the Doe residence, where I saw Mrs. Doe and Jane let him in. I left him with instructions to call me with details of how and when he was to come home.
The hours passed while I did other things, but soon it was closing in on dinner time, and no contact from the youngster. I called him on his cell phone and asked, "Are you OK?"
(a very exasperated) "Yeah dad."
"So, when are you coming home?"
"A very long time from now."
"Well, it's dinner time. Are you eating there?" (hearing in the background as he asks Jane, "Am I eating here?" and an "I don't know.") "No bud, if nobody actually invited you, you aren't eating there. I'll be there at 7:00 you pick you up."
(another even more annoyed) "OK, Dad."
I went back to Tiger Woods to pick him up. Mrs. Doe said I have a very sweet son (he was working on the first impression thing). We got in the car and I asked what they did all day. They watched a movie, went for a walk and talked a lot...and he really likes her. Your basic 13 year old low budget first date, I guess.
Suddenly, the youngster isn't so young anymore.
John put this out here at 11:10 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home