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Ben's Big Day


Ben had his first campout with his new scout troop this weekend. We dropped the boys off Friday afternoon and were told to pick them Sunday at 10:00. Since our church service starts at 10:00 this is highly inconvenient. Add to that the fact that Ben really, really didn't want to miss church, AirSoft, or youth group. Sunday is his favorite day of the week because it's just full of fun and friends (poor unsocialized homeschooled kid).

So, to help him out, I showed up thirty minutes early to pick him up from camp. I figured if he wasn't too dirty and his teeth were brushed we could head straight to the church. If he smelled bad and was grimy looking, we could stop by the house for the fastest shower of his life and just be a little late to church.

Well, of course, none of the boys could leave early until the camp had been broken down and all equipment put away. This is only fair and right. If any boy were allowed to leave early without cleaning up, every boy would leave early without cleaning up. This is the law of boys and we all know it.

Ben really wanted to get a move on, so he was picking up tables and benches and practically sprinting to the storage shed with them. Other boys were s-l-o-w-l-y picking up equipment, and casually meandering over to the shed at a snails pace.

Finally, finally they let Ben leave because he had done so much work. I took a quick whiff as he got in the car and decided the quick shower would be our chosen path to church. He told me that they had asked him if he had a phone and he didn't want to lie so he said yes and they confiscated it. It was left on all weekend in solitary confinement and was dead.

He told me all about the camp out on the way home, raced in the house, showered, changed, and we headed back out, arriving at church a mere 30 minutes late.

After church, he left with his youth group and I told him to call me when youth group was done and I would come pick him up. He reminded me that his phone was dead and told me just to pick him up at 7:30 at the church.

About 6:00 I headed out to the car and realized I had left my cell phone out there when I saw it on the seat. I picked it up and saw three missed calls and two voice mails. My messages sounded something like this:

"MOM! Why don't you have your cell phone with you?!?! Youth group has been cancelled and they are locking up the church and everyone is leaving. My phone is dead and I don't know the house number yet! You really should have your phone on you! Chris and Jay are still here, maybe I could get one of their parents to give me a ride to the post gate and I could just walk home from there..........wait.........dang! I don't have my wallet! I can't get on to post! Mom! Why don't you have your phone with you?"

"Mom! Okay, I'm with Chris and Jay and we are hanging out in Times Square or Town Square or something. We're in a town somewhere. I need you to come and get me. You should keep your phone with you! Call this number: xxx-xxxx. That's Jay's phone. I can't believe you don't have your phone with you!"

So I called the number he left, ready to race off and find him wherever the heck he was (surely not Times Square) and finally made contact with him.

"Uh, yeah I'm not sure where we are," he told me.

"Well I need to know or I can't pick you up," I pointed out.

"Well, we're hanging out and we're talking about going to a movie or something. I'll just call you when I want you to come get me."

Such is frantic stop and go life of a teen on Sunday.

Comments

  1. This is making me laugh out loud. We've had several similar conversations with our children. Fortunately he wasn't in Times Square.

    ReplyDelete

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