|
 |
|
|
A Mother's Cloak of Invisibility
Parents of young children are often active participants in playtime and conversations with children. We enjoy them, want to know and direct them to more positive activities, clarify things, suggest cease fires or completely change the subject when appropriate. When kids get older, an interesting dynamic surfaces. Kids stop talking in front of adults. I have found a way to break this freedom of speech that, interestingly, runs against my nature. My nature is to nurture, but you can’t if you don’t know what’s going on. So, you must be silent to gain access to their inner sanctum.
For example, when I used to drive them to bowling or a game, I would try to engage all the kids, ask how they were, what’s going on with school, etc. but NO. That is teen lip super glue. I discovered the power of the cloak of silence quite by accident when I was mad at something, and in the midst of my pouting, a new world opened up before my ears. Now, I use the super glue on my own lips. After about 10 minutes, they start talking like you aren’t there. It’s unbelievable. But, you must observe almost complete silence for it to work - that means that in the event you are spoken to, use hand signals and grunts only. Show no expression on your face. Look out the window a lot with a bored look on your face that says, “I want to really be out there and not in here.” The really savvy kids will keep checking your face in the mirrors to see if you register interest so be consistent.
Correctly implemented, on long rides, you can find out the following and more: Who is dating who or who likes who.
Who is doing things behind their parent’s back that could get them arrested.
Who is not a wholesome young lady and more incriminating details than you care to really know.
What teachers are the cool ones and what teachers you like because they aren’t “cool”.
What parent’s have said about teachers, other parents and neighbors and even you.
Whose parents are “cool” (red flag).
What girls the guys consider hot or vice versa and why (which will sometimes confuse you but show NO expression)
Some personal and/or family data that is none of your business and would be the cause of a thousand shades of red if their parents knew.
The “funny” things they did the last couple of years that you never knew about. One caution - if you found out about something that makes you fuming mad - WAIT. If you act in close proximity to the time of donning your cloak of invisibility, no more invisibility for you! You must practice patience and wait for the perfect time to address it. Sometimes my kids will press me to learn how I found out about something they “openly” discussed on one of our car rides. My lips are sealed.
|
Contributor's Note
Mary Fagan has an M.S. in Education and is the mother of three children. When not watching them closely, she writes light-hearted humor about family life.
|
|
|
 |
|
No reactions yet.
Please login or sign up to rate this intel.
Please login or sign up to add a comment.
The copyright for this content entitled "A Mother's Cloak of Invisibility" has been specified by the contributor as:
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
Details 
This content may be copied, distributed, and modified, as long as a) the original author is acknowledged with a link back to the content page, and b) if the work is modified, the result is distributed with this same license.
If you use this content according to the license specified, you must link to the following URL:
http://motherwise.qondio.com/
|
|
|
This intel was contributed by motherwise
motherwise
|
May, 2012
2008
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2009
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2010
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2011
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2012
January, February, March, April, May
|
|
Not a member yet?
Qondio is a powerful network for making it online. If you have a website to
promote, we can help.
Sign up and get in on the action.
|
|
Welcome to Qondio! Discover the awesome power this network can deliver by going to our About page. Or you could skip straight to the Sign Up form.
|
|
