So I'm sitting in a café for lunch today and the service was RIDICULOUSLY slow so I had a lot of time to listened to the conversations of those sitting around me while watching the new waitress fail to actually provide service. Seated behind me and slightly to the left were a middle aged woman and her mother. These two apparently do not see each other that often because they seemed to have quite a bit of catching up to do...meaning the younger one just wouldn't stop talking. So here, for your reading enjoyment and because I haven't given you a nice wordy post in quite some time, are a few of the interesting things I learned about this random stranger's family.
The youngest child in the family is a girl named Megan. Megan is in elementary school, feels 'stifled' by the education system, believes her teacher to 'far less than adequate', and apparently has far too much energy for her mother's taste. Here is a direct quote from 'mom' : "I'm enrolling Megan in tumbling. I think she will enjoy it." Now, the last time I checked that particular activity was called gymnastics AND generally it helps if your child has expressed some interest in an activity before you force it upon them. I feel bad for Megan…I have visions of a rather chubby little girl with dirty blond pig-tails and glasses standing on the side of a tumbling mat in a unflatteringly tight pink leotard… I don't think this will end well.
The middle child in the family is a girl in middle school. Her name was never stated and her mother referred to her only as 'the brat' or 'that brat.' Apparently, at age 12 this young person has already failed at life so badly that there is simply no hope for her salvation. Her mother actually went so far as to question the value of this child's existence and stated that she was "a complete waste of air." Harsh, but honest. Way to suck as a parent there, mom!
The oldest child, a high school senior named Peter, is apparently the family golden boy and can do no wrong. Peter plays football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and runs track. I'm frankly astonished that Perfect Peter is able to squeeze academics into his busy extracurricular schedule but he is also apparently an A student. Something tells me that Peter is either lying to his parents about his grades, or that he's gotten his hands on someone else's Ritalin and hasn't slept since July. Apparently mom has decided that Peter also needs to master another language and forcibly enrolled him in Spanish at the beginning of the school year. Today is the class Christmas party. Here's another direct quote from mom: "Well, he may not realize it yet, but I expect him to be completely fluent by graduation." It's December…graduation is in June…Peter is in Spanish 1. Anyone else see the flaw in this plan?
The moral of today's story? Be careful about what you discuss loudly in public places...or you could end up on someone's blog.
1 comment:
And that is a great example of the type of parent that frustrated me when I was teaching... I feel bad for the kids!
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