Geez....he thought he'd get away with this one???

[Ben E Lou]

I just got a knock on the door of my office. It is the father of a teenager--a teenager who is in his dad's car in the parking lot. Dad asks me if we have a trip this weekend. I said, "uh, no." Since I didn't recognize this dad or his son, I asked where his son went to school. He said that he goes to Lakeside--the one school in my area of responsibility that I don't work directly with the weekly club. So I decide to call the volunteer who heads up that club, just to double-check if he's taking a small group of guys camping or something this weekend, and therefore didn't feel the need to let me know. He sounds surprised when I ask if there's a Lakeside trip this weekend and says, "Uh, no. Why?"

"I'll explain later."

I hang up, and dad proceeds to tell me that his son had actually printed up a sign-up form for a trip to the mountains for this weekend and gotten his dad to sign it. There were three high school girls and two other guys waiting at the church parking lot from where this trip was supposed to have embarked. The story was that Bill (the volunteer) had left right after school with the group, and that they (yeah, a group of 15 and 16-year-olds with no adult) were driving up to the N. Georgia Mountains and meeting the group there for the weekend.

Now, I've had plenty of incidents of kids telling their parents that they were coming to one of our meetings on an evening, and going out somewhere else instead, but this is the first time I've caught one trying to fabricate an entire weekend trip.

I fear for the next generation. He should have had the brains to get a ride with someone else to meet his friends for a weekend of debauchery, rather than his parents.

[Lathum]

Now that is the way parenting should be.

[JonInMiddleGA]

As much as I understand your concerns for the future, I had an almost opposite feeling last night, so maybe it isn't completely hopeless.

Long story short, ran across a teen we know at one of the fast-food joints & got to watch her really interact with her peer group for about a half hour. The interesting thing, and the encouraging thing was, that the group really seemed like a good bunch of kids. Not too this or not too that, just ... well, normal. It's still probably a scary situation where that actually stood out enough to make an impression, but still, it was actually one of the most encouraging encounters I've had with youth in quite a while & it really left me with a pretty good feeling.

[Ben E Lou]

As much as I understand your concerns for the future, I had an almost opposite feeling last night, so maybe it isn't completely hopeless.Ah, I was just being melodramatic in that last paragraph, in a (failed, apparently) attempt at comedy. :p

[JonInMiddleGA]

Ah, I was just being melodramatic in that last paragraph, in a (failed, apparently) attempt at comedy. :p

Nah, I knew it was pretty much in jest, but there was just this faint ring of truth to it too (or, maybe I was just hearing the echo of my own usual sentiments in your joke).

[Ben E Lou]

I wonder what story he thought up while he was waiting in the car.The old stand-by. Another kid gave him the flyer. :rolleyes:

ATTENTION PARENTS: "another kid" NEVER gave him the flyer, or left the cigarette butts in his car ashtray, or left the beer bottles in his trunk, or owned the condoms you found in his pants pocket when doing his laundry, or looked at the porn on the computer in his room....

[judicial clerk]

I wonder what story he thought up while he was waiting in the car, or did he just run.

[Ben E Lou]

ATTENTION PARENTS: "another kid" NEVER gave him the flyer, or left the cigarette butts in his car ashtray, or left the beer bottles in his trunk, or owned the condoms you found in his pants pocket when doing his laundry, or looked at the porn on the computer in his room....Gotta vent.

My "favorite" thing about this ol' standard excuse is that the parents invariably ask the kid "Well who's beer bottles were they???" The kid then gets indignant, even self-righteous as he proudly says, "Mom, I would *NEVER* rat out my friends."

...and I know parents who actually BUY this line, and actually look upon their kid with some sort of measure of respect for their loyalty to their friends.

[vex]

Genius! Almost.

[BigJohn&TheLions]

I wonder what story he thought up while he was waiting in the car, or did he just run.

I would have run all the way home and got into some homework immediatly. When my mother would have got home I would have denied to know what she was talking about, and asked her if she was feeling alright...

[BigJohn&TheLions]

Thinking about it, the best I ever did was get permission from my mother to stay at a friend's house for the weekend, then I went to Chicago. It was a holiday weekend and I almost got busted. She called Monday morning. He told her I was asleep and wasn't waking up. She gave me a lecture about drinking, figuring I was sleeping off a long night...

[Franklinnoble]

Gotta vent.

My "favorite" thing about this ol' standard excuse is that the parents invariably ask the kid "Well who's beer bottles were they???" The kid then gets indignant, even self-righteous as he proudly says, "Mom, I would *NEVER* rat out my friends."

...and I know parents who actually BUY this line, and actually look upon their kid with some sort of measure of respect for their loyalty to their friends.

As a parent of a 15 year old, I gotta say, I can't believe parents are that stupid. Those Jedi mind tricks don't work on me.

Any kid, no matter how "good" you think he or she is, is gonna try this sort of thing.

My wife and I are usually crafty enough to have evidence on the little brats, then withold presenting it to them until we've caught them lying about it. When the police do this, it's called entrapment... but when I do it, it's called smart parenting... it discourages the little snotlockers from trying to lie to me.

[Solecismic]

I'm going to be one lousy parent. I'd've let the kid go, unless he'd made me sign some bogus permission slip.

[Franklinnoble]

I'm going to be one lousy parent. I'd've let the kid go, unless he'd made me sign some bogus permission slip.

Wait until they get older.

Just trust me. Your whole worldview changes when you've got teenagers.

[BigJohn&TheLions]

I'm going to be one lousy parent. I'd've let the kid go, unless he'd made me sign some bogus permission slip.

Do I smell a new suspension in the next game?

[Glengoyne]

...

ATTENTION PARENTS: "another kid" NEVER gave him the flyer, or left the cigarette butts in his car ashtray, or left the beer bottles in his trunk, or owned the condoms you found in his pants pocket when doing his laundry, or looked at the porn on the computer in his room....

That NEVER reminded of a story. My parents were out of town for a long weekend. A bunch of my friends come over, but since we weren't drinkers...there was actually no booze in the house. We nearly set the place on fire, but there was no booze. My cousin stops by at some time, and he has a twleve pack of beer with him. He complains that he left it in the bed of his truck for two days in 100 plus weather. He thinks some time in the fridge might save it. He puts it in the garage fridge, and leaves.

On the day my parents return, I walk out into the garage after meticulously cleaning up after a weekend of teenagers alone in a house, and I see the twelve pack. The cans are seriously swollen. It wouldn't make much sense to clean up after the near fire, and leave a twelve pack of beer in the refridgerator. So I load the twelve pack into my car, and go to throw it away in the first big garbage bin I could discretely access. As I'm driving down the road, I have to brake suddenly. This sends the twelve pack spiraling forward. I believe this might have been the first time I discovered I needed to develop the parental/driving reflex to reach into the passenger seat while braking. Well I didn't reach over to catch it, so the twelve pack went straight to the floor. Where a number of them promptly burst.

Having suddenly passed the point of requiring a discrete place to dump the twelve pack, I was looking for anywhere to dump them. I swerved into the parking lot of a liquor store, and stopped next to a large blue garbage bin. I ran around the car to retrieve the twelve pack. luckilly some of the cardboard was still intact enough to quell a little bit of the flow. Grabbing the cardboard box of leaking beer cans, and extending it up over my head, I turned to heave it into the garbage container. At that precise moment, with a twleve pack of Coors Light essentially raining down on me, I made eye contact with the principal of my high school. He was standing directly on the other side of the bin giving me a look that suitably conveyed his disapproval.

I did manage to completely salvage the situation by announcing "It's not mine".

[BigJohn&TheLions]

I did manage to completely salvage the situation by announcing "It's not mine".

LOL!!! And I'm sure he took your word for it!!! :D

[gstelmack]

So, um, where were the other 5 sets of parents? I'm at least encouraged that ONE parent had the sense to question what was going on.

[Draft Dodger]

also, did they need to bring a sleeping bag?

[MrBug708]

also, did they need to bring a sleeping bag?

Just 3....

[JAG]

I did manage to completely salvage the situation by announcing "It's not mine".

Great story. :)

[korme]

That NEVER reminded of a story. My parents were out of town for a long weekend. A bunch of my friends come over, but since we weren't drinkers...there was actually no booze in the house. We nearly set the place on fire, but there was no booze. My cousin stops by at some time, and he has a twleve pack of beer with him. He complains that he left it in the bed of his truck for two days in 100 plus weather. He thinks some time in the fridge might save it. He puts it in the garage fridge, and leaves.

On the day my parents return, I walk out into the garage after meticulously cleaning up after a weekend of teenagers alone in a house, and I see the twelve pack. The cans are seriously swollen. It wouldn't make much sense to clean up after the near fire, and leave a twelve pack of beer in the refridgerator. So I load the twelve pack into my car, and go to throw it away in the first big garbage bin I could discretely access. As I'm driving down the road, I have to brake suddenly. This sends the twelve pack spiraling forward. I believe this might have been the first time I discovered I needed to develop the parental/driving reflex to reach into the passenger seat while braking. Well I didn't reach over to catch it, so the twelve pack went straight to the floor. Where a number of them promptly burst.

Having suddenly passed the point of requiring a discrete place to dump the twelve pack, I was looking for anywhere to dump them. I swerved into the parking lot of a liquor store, and stopped next to a large blue garbage bin. I ran around the car to retrieve the twelve pack. luckilly some of the cardboard was still intact enough to quell a little bit of the flow. Grabbing the cardboard box of leaking beer cans, and extending it up over my head, I turned to heave it into the garbage container. At that precise moment, with a twleve pack of Coors Light essentially raining down on me, I made eye contact with the principal of my high school. He was standing directly on the other side of the bin giving me a look that suitably conveyed his disapproval.

I did manage to completely salvage the situation by announcing "It's not mine".

hahaha! that story was hilarious.

[Anthony]

man....that kids dad just cockblocked that entire weekend. think of the drunken debauchery and sexual hijinks that would have taken place. the stuff of legends.

i'm gonna be a different kind of parent. not one of those "its ok to have sex/drink alcohol as long as its in my house" kind of people, but one where honesty and being straightforward is rewarded with leniency. the most important thing is that you know where your children are at all times. if something bad ever happens you don't want to be looking east cuz that's where they said they'd be - but you actually should have been looking west.

i'm gonna be "that dad". i've done a hell of a lot of shit when i was a teen, i'm sure we all have. a lot of which my mother never was aware of. i just want to be in the loop. my children will know boundaries, but they'll also know if they level with me and do their end of the bargain (good grades, not having to be forced to do chores) and respect me by being honest, more times than not they'll win.

teens are a crafty lot. if you put them in a situation where they have to lie and manipulate to get their way they'll win half the time...but half the time is too much. i rather know where they're gonna be. i always told my mother where i was gonna be (at least 95% of the time). i was always afraid of being kidnapped or being abducted and if i lied where i was gonna be, by the time they figured out where i really was i'd be long gone by then. i want to instill the same fear in my children.

and i'm also not a hippocryte. i've done my fair share of things, and "Hell Atlantic" personality aside i've turned out to be a very good person. part of what shapes you are your life experiences. i also want to tell them the importance of choosing a good core of level-headed friends. i had made the wrong decisions regarding the crew i rolled with early on. me and my core group (4-5 of us) decided it was best we cut our losses and we broke off. best decision we could have made. so instead of having a lot of fun and getting pulled over by cops we just had a lot of fun with no run-ins with the fuzz.

that's all you can ask for as a parent. to give your children the wisdom needed to make the proper decisions. every teen, and i mean every teen who's not a nerd and actually goes out on the weekend and doesn't stay home playing D&D, will put themselves in a bad situation. the only thing you can hope for is that they have the wisdom to recognize they're in a bad situation and know when to back away.

[Swaggs]

HA, I'm curious. Has your wife ever asked you what you would name your kid if you have a boy?

[Desnudo]

man....that kids dad just cockblocked that entire weekend. think of the drunken debauchery and sexual hijinks that would have taken place. the stuff of legends.

i'm gonna be a different kind of parent. not one of those "its ok to have sex/drink alcohol as long as its in my house" kind of people, but one where honesty and being straightforward is rewarded with leniency. the most important thing is that you know where your children are at all times. if something bad ever happens you don't want to be looking east cuz that's where they said they'd be - but you actually should have been looking west.

i'm gonna be "that dad". i've done a hell of a lot of shit when i was a teen, i'm sure we all have. a lot of which my mother never was aware of. i just want to be in the loop. my children will know boundaries, but they'll also know if they level with me and do their end of the bargain (good grades, not having to be forced to do chores) and respect me by being honest, more times than not they'll win.

teens are a crafty lot. if you put them in a situation where they have to lie and manipulate to get their way they'll win half the time...but half the time is too much. i rather know where they're gonna be. i always told my mother where i was gonna be (at least 95% of the time). i was always afraid of being kidnapped or being abducted and if i lied where i was gonna be, by the time they figured out where i really was i'd be long gone by then. i want to instill the same fear in my children.

and i'm also not a hippocryte. i've done my fair share of things, and "Hell Atlantic" personality aside i've turned out to be a very good person. part of what shapes you are your life experiences. i also want to tell them the importance of choosing a good core of level-headed friends. i had made the wrong decisions regarding the crew i rolled with early on. me and my core group (4-5 of us) decided it was best we cut our losses and we broke off. best decision we could have made. so instead of having a lot of fun and getting pulled over by cops we just had a lot of fun with no run-ins with the fuzz.

that's all you can ask for as a parent. to give your children the wisdom needed to make the proper decisions. every teen, and i mean every teen who's not a nerd and actually goes out on the weekend and doesn't stay home playing D&D, will put themselves in a bad situation. the only thing you can hope for is that they have the wisdom to recognize they're in a bad situation and know when to back away.

The fuzz? Who was in your crew, Potsie and Fonzie?

[Ben E Lou]

There's more to this story, as it turns out.

The kid who got busted by dad is a 15-year-old Sophomore. It turns out that the other five kids were only a part of this scam as props. I had figured all of the six had turned in this bogus forum, and one of them had snatched the key to his or her parents' lake house, and they planned on spending the weekend there. Turns out that this one kid had just decided he wanted to go to various parties all weekend long without bothering to go home. He didn't really have a plan on where he'd be spending his nights, but he figured with the cash his parents had given him for the non-existant YoungLife trip, he'd have plenty to eat, and he could just sleep wherever he passed out at whatever party he happened to be at. What's particularly humorous is that I was taking a group of Seniors up to see a Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit in North Carolina last Sunday, and one of them out of the blue says to me, "Hey Ben, was there another YL trip this weekend to the mountains?"

Ben: No, why? (I'm thinking. Ooohhh...this could be good...more information.)

Senior Guy: 'Cause some kid came up to me in the hall on Friday and offered me 10 bucks to show up at the parking lot to your office and pose as an Emory student who was a C.I.T. {counselor in training} He said I just needed to drive in front of them toward 285 so his dad would believe he was going on a YoungLife trip this weekend. Man, I didn't even know who this kid WAS!

Ben: {pulls vehicle to the side of the road, because he is laughing so hard he is crying}


Unbelievable.

[Tekneek]

Senior Guy: 'Cause some kid came up to me in the hall on Friday and offered me 10 bucks to show up at the parking lot to your office and pose as an Emory student who was a C.I.T. {counselor in training} He said I just needed to drive in front of them toward 285 so his dad would believe he was going on a YoungLife trip this weekend. Man, I didn't even know who this kid WAS!

This is amazing. I don't think I would have ever put that much effort into it.

[Ben E Lou]

ATTENTION PARENTS: "another kid" NEVER gave him the flyer, or left the cigarette butts in his car ashtray, or left the beer bottles in his trunk, or owned the condoms you found in his pants pocket when doing his laundry, or looked at the porn on the computer in his room....Bumping this thread for this bit of wisdom. (Yes, another interesting story happened...)

[cougarfreak]

There's more to this story, as it turns out.

The kid who got busted by dad is a 15-year-old Sophomore. It turns out that the other five kids were only a part of this scam as props. I had figured all of the six had turned in this bogus forum, and one of them had snatched the key to his or her parents' lake house, and they planned on spending the weekend there. Turns out that this one kid had just decided he wanted to go to various parties all weekend long without bothering to go home. He didn't really have a plan on where he'd be spending his nights, but he figured with the cash his parents had given him for the non-existant YoungLife trip, he'd have plenty to eat, and he could just sleep wherever he passed out at whatever party he happened to be at. What's particularly humorous is that I was taking a group of Seniors up to see a Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit in North Carolina last Sunday, and one of them out of the blue says to me, "Hey Ben, was there another YL trip this weekend to the mountains?"

Ben: No, why? (I'm thinking. Ooohhh...this could be good...more information.)

Senior Guy: 'Cause some kid came up to me in the hall on Friday and offered me 10 bucks to show up at the parking lot to your office and pose as an Emory student who was a C.I.T. {counselor in training} He said I just needed to drive in front of them toward 285 so his dad would believe he was going on a YoungLife trip this weekend. Man, I didn't even know who this kid WAS!

Ben: {pulls vehicle to the side of the road, because he is laughing so hard he is crying}


Unbelievable.


I dealt with a 15 yr. old in class the other day who had skipped the 3rd and 4th days of school and forged a note from dad. Not smart.

[Poli]

My senior year I got sick on the first day of school trying to cope with the new building's air conditioning. I was just too friggin cold. My parents took me to a local doctor and I was excused from school for two days.

Near the end of that semester when my excused absences were up, the school sent a letter home to inform my parents. My parents had forgotten about the two days at the beginning of the school year and accused me of skipping.

I had never skipped school up to that point, but my younger brother and sister were notorious for it. My parents never believed me, so I skipped the first two days of the second semester out of spite.

When the letter came in for the second semester, I told them that's what I did as well.