Saturday night Ashley was invited to a party by a guy that is a junior. She went back and forth about whether or not to go and being the extrovert I am I encouraged her to attend. She spent the afternoon getting ready and baking brownies to take and had all the driving arrangements worked out. I was at work and received a call about five o’clock. First she said that she was sorry that she had been raised so well but she needed to tell me that she had just found out that the parents were out of town. I promptly told her that she would not be going and that I was very sorry. She was understandably upset and refused to speak to me for the next 36 hours. Let me just say as a parent that moment really sucked. I was so proud of her for telling the truth and in return had to make her miss the party. You would think that there would be some kind of consolation prize for the honesty. It’s hard to convince your child that you trust them but they can’t go to the party. I pulled out the old cliche that I was protecting her from situations that she wasn’t ready to handle but even as I was saying those words I knew she wouldn’t understand for many years to come. I called my dad for support and he laughed. After he finished, he gave me the much needed pep talk about how one day she would thank me but it wouldn’t be one day soon. That I was a good mom and to remember the couch story.

When my younger step sister was about fifteen she decided to have a party while my parents were out of town. Legend has it she invited about fifteen people and about 75 showed up. A group of them decided to find out how many people they could fit on our new couch. I can’t remember how many actually fit but I think it was number 15 that popped the arm or as dad reminded me ,the entire end off the couch. You can hide spilled beer or pizza sauce stains on the carpet but the end of the couch being gone is really hard to miss. So, as I lament about the fact that I had to make a hard choice I find a small amount of solace in the fact that I may have saved a couch. Thanks Dad!!