I got it but a bit too late

Dad and Mum

When did you get it? I bet you are wondering what the old fool is on about now. Well it was sparked off by a conversation with Dad the other day, which got me thinking.

What I mean by ‘When did you get it’ was when you understood your parents were right all along and you really didn’t know that much. What teenager growing up thought they knew it all and why would some old fogeys who may be your parents no better.

Hands up, I wasn’t the easiest son in the world and often pushed the boundaries with justice quickly administered leaving me with issues, like most, moaned, and groaned. I may have uttered the famous Kevin the teenager utterance “I hate you” and at that moment in time, I actually may have.

I was around fourteen when that eureka moment hit me. I was mitching locally and was coming out of the fish shop and was spotted, they was no way mum was not going to hear about it so I sucked it up knowing there was trouble ahead. I could have rushed home and come up with some lie but I doubt I would have been believed, so I decided to stay out, wait for everyone to come home from school and go home like normal.

That afternoon I knew I was in for a bollicking and it was all my fault and it got me thinking all the trouble I was getting myself into was down to me and no one else. If caught once, I must have got away with something five or six times maybe more, I was that good. Once home Mum said nothing, did she know did I get away with it seriously? However, later I found out she knew after a friend whose mum saw me told me mum did know. So why no drama, no shouting all the normal responses I would expect.

I think I hurt mum that day and I know she would have told dad and he too was quiet and non-responsive to my day’s activities. A sudden wave of guilt hit me not that I was going to give up mitching from school but I must respect what they were telling me because it was for my own good. It was not as if I was going to turn into some angel overnight but I listened, took it all in, and thank my parents for their sound advice.

Mum and Dad were right about just how important school was. This coming from someone who would leave school with no qualifications I just wish there was an exam for mitching I would have been top of the class. The knowledge they passed on was invaluable not just about school but everything life building. I was sitting at the feet of my real teachers and it took a while for me to understand.

When I became a parent myself, my boys tried it on thinking I was some oldie who had no idea when I probably knew more than they did. It was a case of Déjà vu remembering my battles with my parents.