What Did Your Offspring Do Today?

[Buckeye]

Don't have kids but do have 4 cats. Today, Eddie tried to book a trip for us all to go London for the Olympics. Good thing he doesn't have access to my credit card 3 digit code or my cell phone. Also good he doesn't have opposable thumbs.

Ooooooh, what a beautiful kitty!

 

[seraphim]

On Sunday he graduated college, and I got a $36K a year pay raise.

 

[Moemg]

I forgot to mention that my daughter got promoted . She was an Assistant Dean but now she is the Dean of academic Studies at a small college in New York.

 

[Brat]

My son (& DIL) took their 4 yo to the hospital early this am to have his adenoids removed and tubes put in his ears.

 

[Htown Harry]

"Snow Day" gone bad...

DD#2 is a 15 y.o. high school sophomore. Good kid, straight A's on most report cards. I don't remember the last time she got in trouble.

About noon, waiting for the elevator before going to an out-of-office meeting, I see she's sent me a text. The school lost power and everyone was sent home. I call her: "Dad, I got ride and now I'm home. All's well."

I stop at the busy store downstairs and grab a sandwich to go, then walk 5 blocks to the car. (I work downtown.)

The "gone bad" part starts as I'm getting in the car. It's a call from DD: "Dad, I know I'm gonna be in trouble, but...... um........ uh........ I took the spare car and drove it to the grocery store for some lunch. And now the battery's dead."

It took a while for that to sink in....there was long pause while I contemplated various scenarios involving a solo driver on the road with just a learner's permit. Finally, I just said "Sit tight, I'll call you back". Click.

I called my appointment to report I was going to be late, then called DD back for another very short conversation to pin down where she was at the MegaGrocery parking lot and when I would arrive. "Sit tight. I'll be there in a few minutes." Click.

On the way, my phone rang again. She reported she had gotten the car started. "Sit tight. I'll be there in a few minutes." Click.

You should now be getting the idea that I was making her sweat, not giving away much at all in the way of reactions. Certainly no hints on what her fate would be at the end of this little adventure.

Conversation #4. Me: "Well, I'm on the second row at the MegaGrocery parking lot. Where are YOU?" Long pause at her end this time. Breaking voice of DD: "Oh no...Did I say MegaGrocery? I'm at Whole Foods."

This time, I did give away just a bit of a reaction. "Sit tight. I'll be right there" was delivered with plenty of extra enthusiasm.

So I arrive at the Whole Foods, locate DD, then hop out of the car only long enough to say "I'll follow you" and to point at the exit.

DD exhibited perfect use of turn signals on the trip home, as you might expect.

She pulls into the driveway. I stop in front of the house and wait. She makes a walk of shame down to the curb and I roll down the window. "Give me the key. We'll talk when I get home."

I stayed late at the office just to prolong her agony an extra hour. In the end, though, I let her off with a pretty easy with just a Dragnet-style interrogation and some loss of liberty until finals are over.

 

[Grizz]

My 15yr old daughter just won gold at the Canadian National Fencing Championships in the under 17 womens category.

 

[FreeAtLast]

My son is preparing for finals. My daughter went to a picnic at work.

 

[FUEGO]

Your children may be embarking upon international travel, passing the bar, taking linear algebra, having babies, mowing the lawn, playing golf, or otherwise engaged in laudable adventures and accomplishments... but here, I'll out-do you all:

My sweet and lovely daughter just posted on Facebook that in a period of five minutes, while she had lunch cooking on the stove, her toilet overflowed; she slipped and FELL in it; her cat barfed on the floor; and then she found more cat barf by stepping in it (ewww!).

She's all right, but hey, way to go, slick! I posted my sympathies and a suggestion to shower with LOTS of very hot water and soap once everything is cleaned up. Her day has to improve from here on out.

I am always amazed at my facebook friends who are so diligent that they are able to do things like overflow a toilet, slip in the effluent, have a cat barf and step in it while concurrently live-blogging all the excitement. Multitasking indeed!

 

[Bestwifeever]

My daughter is about to deliver my new grandchild . Hopefully I will be meeting him in the next ten days !

Well?? I hope you have lots of kisses and hugs stored up for him and his big brother!

My kids are going away for Memorial Day weekend today, one to another state, one to another country.

 

[Bestwifeever]

"Snow Day" gone bad...

DD#2 is a 15 y.o. high school sophomore. Good kid, straight A's on most report cards. I don't remember the last time she got in trouble.

About noon, waiting for the elevator before going to an out-of-office meeting, I see she's sent me a text. The school lost power and everyone was sent home. I call her: "Dad, I got ride and now I'm home. All's well."

I stop at the busy store downstairs and grab a sandwich to go, then walk 5 blocks to the car. (I work downtown.)

The "gone bad" part starts as I'm getting in the car. It's a call from DD: "Dad, I know I'm gonna be in trouble, but...... um........ uh........ I took the spare car and drove it to the grocery store for some lunch. And now the battery's dead."

It took a while for that to sink in....there was long pause while I contemplated various scenarios involving a solo driver on the road with just a learner's permit. Finally, I just said "Sit tight, I'll call you back". Click.

I called my appointment to report I was going to be late, then called DD back for another very short conversation to pin down where she was at the MegaGrocery parking lot and when I would arrive. "Sit tight. I'll be there in a few minutes." Click.

On the way, my phone rang again. She reported she had gotten the car started. "Sit tight. I'll be there in a few minutes." Click.

You should now be getting the idea that I was making her sweat, not giving away much at all in the way of reactions. Certainly no hints on what her fate would be at the end of this little adventure.

Conversation #4. Me: "Well, I'm on the second row at the MegaGrocery parking lot. Where are YOU?" Long pause at her end this time. Breaking voice of DD: "Oh no...Did I say MegaGrocery? I'm at Whole Foods."

This time, I did give away just a bit of a reaction. "Sit tight. I'll be right there" was delivered with plenty of extra enthusiasm.

So I arrive at the Whole Foods, locate DD, then hop out of the car only long enough to say "I'll follow you" and to point at the exit.

DD exhibited perfect use of turn signals on the trip home, as you might expect.

She pulls into the driveway. I stop in front of the house and wait. She makes a walk of shame down to the curb and I roll down the window. "Give me the key. We'll talk when I get home."

I stayed late at the office just to prolong her agony an extra hour. In the end, though, I let her off with a pretty easy with just a Dragnet-style interrogation and some loss of liberty until finals are over.

The kind of trouble you don't really worry about a good kid getting into. Great story! In five years you can tell her we enjoyed it.

 

[Nords]

The "gone bad" part starts as I'm getting in the car. It's a call from DD: "Dad, I know I'm gonna be in trouble, but...... um........ uh........ I took the spare car and drove it to the grocery store for some lunch. And now the battery's dead."

Boy, did that take some courage. Most kids that age would be calling their friends for a battery jump.

So-- at what age did she start driving, and does she have enough miles yet to take the driver's license road test? And what culpability does your older daughter (or school friend?) share in this newfound skill?

I guess the good news is that our kids save these little defiant expressions of independence & bad behavior for those whom they love the most...

 

[Htown Harry]

The older daughter is out of the nest, in another city, so she was not in on the deal. Joe Friday was unable to identify any local accomplices.

#2 took on-line, "parent taught" drivers' ed. She passed the final virtual classroom module last weekend. She also has completed all of the driving hours needed to take the driving test when she turns 16 in about 6 weeks. She's young in her class peer group, with several friends already driving. In the teenage pea-sized brain, I'm sure that equated to "I'm fully qualified, so this is no big deal. It's just paperwork."

Truth be told, I'm a bit implicated. A couple of months ago, we ordered some food to go from a restaurant at the entrance to our subdivision. I surprised her by tossing her the keys and telling her to go solo over three residential blocks to pick up dinner. (No repeats, however, despite several requests.) If you give a mouse a cookie...

There's certainly several pieces of good news in the story. #2 got busted on what is probably her first significant lapse in applying judgment in an adult situation. She didn't call a friend, which probably would have resulted in a successful cover-up and added confidence for future conspiracies. I didn't blow up, so I think she'll come back to me or DW [-]if[/-] when there's some other kind of trouble in the future.

And I got off cheap - DD#1's learning-to-drive story involved driving the family sedan into the back wall of the garage.

 

[Nords]

I surprised her by tossing her the keys and telling her to go solo over three residential blocks to pick up dinner. (No repeats, however, despite several requests.) If you give a mouse a cookie...

Ouch. "But Mo-om, Dad said it was OK!"

I'm just glad that I didn't have to go through the parental part driver's ed more than once. Once was more than enough!

 

[W2R]

Ouch. "But Mo-om, Dad said it was OK!"

I'm just glad that I didn't have to go through the parental part driver's ed more than once. Once was more than enough!

I was too scared to ride with Christina when she had her learner's permit. To me it seemed like she was driving like a blind man - - at stop signs, she would stop in the middle of the intersection and such. Luckily her father stepped up to the plate, and patiently rode with her and taught her enough that she could take driver's ed at school. He took her out to an abandoned air strip, where she had a huge expanse of concrete to practice on with no danger of running into anything. There, she finally learned the relationship between turning the wheel and where the car went.

Later, we gave her more and more independance with the car and we were not aware of any breaking of our rules. However, a couple of years ago she told me that when she was a high school senior, she drove to Houston (from College Station), with a girlfriend for the afternoon when they were supposed to be over at the friend's house.

Sometimes it is better to just not know these things....

 

[Nodak]

When I was a kid one could get a drivers license in ND at the age of 14. I got mine at that age and it seemed that as soon as I had it my parents quit driving if I was with them. I'll never forget coming from a town of 1500 and driving through Winnipeg Manitoba at that age.

 

[Nords]

I was too scared to ride with Christina when she had her learner's permit. ... Luckily her father stepped up to the plate, and patiently rode with her and taught her enough that she could take driver's ed at school.

It seems to be a father's rite of passage. Probably because the mothers have better sense than to strap into the "Seat of Doom" with a learner behind the wheel.

The theory in our house was that I'd trained a lot of junior officers to be watchstanders on nuclear reactors and submarine periscopes. Surely that was scarier than a 15-year-old driving a car.

Of course my daughter and I can laugh about it now. But Hawaii state law for the age-16 road test requires 40 hours of daytime driving, and another 10 hours at night...

She's coming home next week for the first time since she bought her own ride, and it'll be interesting to see if she cares about driving our boring ol' Prius anymore. Now that she's a regular Houston driver she probably has more experience and better reflexes than me.

 

[W2R]

The theory in our house was that I'd trained a lot of junior officers to be watchstanders on nuclear reactors and submarine periscopes. Surely that was scarier than a 15-year-old driving a car.

Not quite!

 

[TromboneAl]

"Snow Day" gone bad...

DD#2 is a 15 y.o. high school sophomore. Good kid, straight A's on most report cards. I don't remember the last time she got in trouble.

About noon, waiting for the elevator before going to an out-of-office meeting, I see she's sent me a text. The school lost power and everyone was sent home. I call her: "Dad, I got ride and now I'm home. All's well."

I stop at the busy store downstairs and grab a sandwich to go, then walk 5 blocks to the car. (I work downtown.)

The "gone bad" part starts as I'm getting in the car. It's a call from DD: "Dad, I know I'm gonna be in trouble, but...... um........ uh........ I took the spare car and drove it to the grocery store for some lunch. And now the battery's dead."

It took a while for that to sink in....there was long pause while I contemplated various scenarios involving a solo driver on the road with just a learner's permit. Finally, I just said "Sit tight, I'll call you back". Click.

I called my appointment to report I was going to be late, then called DD back for another very short conversation to pin down where she was at the MegaGrocery parking lot and when I would arrive. "Sit tight. I'll be there in a few minutes." Click.

On the way, my phone rang again. She reported she had gotten the car started. "Sit tight. I'll be there in a few minutes." Click.

You should now be getting the idea that I was making her sweat, not giving away much at all in the way of reactions. Certainly no hints on what her fate would be at the end of this little adventure.

Conversation #4. Me: "Well, I'm on the second row at the MegaGrocery parking lot. Where are YOU?" Long pause at her end this time. Breaking voice of DD: "Oh no...Did I say MegaGrocery? I'm at Whole Foods."

This time, I did give away just a bit of a reaction. "Sit tight. I'll be right there" was delivered with plenty of extra enthusiasm.

So I arrive at the Whole Foods, locate DD, then hop out of the car only long enough to say "I'll follow you" and to point at the exit.

DD exhibited perfect use of turn signals on the trip home, as you might expect.

She pulls into the driveway. I stop in front of the house and wait. She makes a walk of shame down to the curb and I roll down the window. "Give me the key. We'll talk when I get home."

I stayed late at the office just to prolong her agony an extra hour. In the end, though, I let her off with a pretty easy with just a Dragnet-style interrogation and some loss of liberty until finals are over.

Am understanding correctly that she violated the terms of the learner's permit, and then you did exactly the same thing to avoid having to go back and get the second car?

 

[Htown Harry]

Am understanding correctly that she violated the terms of the learner's permit, and then you did exactly the same thing to avoid having to go back and get the second car?

Yes. Not exactly logical, I admit. I didn't think that through at the time.

By all skill-based measures, she is in fact ready to drive on her own. The one mile route back home is all on 30 mph residential streets. To the extent I did think about what might happen in the trip home, I figured any officer pulling over our slow-moving, turn-signal-using little caravan would be an ally in making this a day of lessons in bad karma for DD.

Glad you didn't pull us over, T-Al.

 

[TromboneAl]

I'm glad it turned out OK, and sorry I got a little judgmental there.

 

[Katsmeow]

This seems to be a time for talking about kids driving. Today (well Saturday) was my younger son's first foray driving alone. In his case, however, this was after he took and passed the driving test last Tuesday and actually got his full license.

It was actually a long, somewhat torturous process. He had been eager at 16 to get his learner's permit (yes, legally he could have done it at 15, but we preferred 16). Once he got his learner's permit he hadn't been as enthusiastic to drive as he had started out. I think he found it more difficult than he anticipated so he spent 2 years in the learner's permit mode, turning 18 early this month.

He always drove fairly well during the past 2 years but was always a little tentative so we didn't push him. But the past few months he has driven very well and once he actually had time to learn how to parallel park (something he never actually has to do in real life but it is still on the test) he was ready to test. He then found out that testing was so backed up he had to wait several weeks before he could test.

So today he went out on his first alone trip. I was actually very nervous the entire time he was gone although rationally he has driven very well when I ride with him. I was still very glad when he arrived back home....

 

[Moemg]

Last Saturday my daughter gave birth to my new grandson and he is a cutie !

 

[MichaelB]

Last Saturday my daughter gave birth to my new grandson and he is a cutie !

Congratulations!

 

[TromboneAl]

Jenny did this:

I wonder if she's seen this:

Sky Dive Fail-80 year old woman sky dive goes wrong, almost falls out of parachute plunges, HD - YouTube

 

[Bestwifeever]

Last Saturday my daughter gave birth to my new grandson and he is a cutie !

Yay!