Parent/Child Reversal

I had an extremely interesting day yesterday. I met with Beth, a writer friend who I met online. First, I’ll say it that it felt great to sit down, drink coffee and talk books and writing with someone who was actually interested AND had their own views to share ;) Thanks Beth… I have tons of FUN and want to do it again!!!

I had so much fun I couldn’t wait to share it with someone. The next people I had the chance to speak to after my 3+ hour coffee date were my two sons.

So imagine this… it’s Friday and they get in the car happy that it’s the weekend. I ask my normal question, “Did ya’ll have a great day at school?”

And I get the typical boy answers, “Glad it’s the weekend.”

Then I say, “I had a really interesting day.”

They don’t look too interested but they have been taught some manners. “Okay, what’d you do?”

“I met with a writer friend that I met online!”

There was no thought whatsoever. The response was immediate. “You said that we are NEVER suppose to meet anyone from online. That person could have been someone who wanted to do bad things to you.”

I swear I must have looked like a fish trying to squirm out of that one. I mean how do I explain that I just knew it was OK…. LOL!!! How I wished I kept my mouth shut!

“I’ve been talking to this woman online for a long time. AND we met in a PUBLIC place,” I say.

I realize too late that this isn’t good. I’ve just done what I preached to them NEVER to do. So I go in for a more convincing reasoning. “This woman knows about writing, she reads the same books as I. I know she isn’t a crazy person from online because she WRITES stories. She KNOWS about story structure. That’s how I knew she wasn’t crazy.”

“Mom, you didn’t know. She could have been a crazy person who writes!”

Okay, you have to know when you are in a losing argument.
Sorry Beth… my kids have you pegged LOL!!!!

In the end, I had to agree, that I had made a mistake, that the woman I met COULD have been crazy. But now Beth will be the writer friend that I already know ;)