Saturday, December 08, 2007

Synopsis Advice And Motherhood

Good advice

Here

And Here


The key words approach really helped me focus on my goals. Breaking it down to Hook, Character identification, Motivation and Conflict made writing the whole thing a lot easier.

In other news . . .

I'm happy to report that my mean-mom certification is still valid.

The scenario: Myself and my oldest son were on the way home from shopping. He was driving and doing a good job and I'd just said so.

Oldest son is telling me about school and friends and their plans. I'm enjoying the conversation. Then he says excitedly, "Me and Eric and Justin and Kyle want to go to St. Louis to see a Lincoln Park Concert in January."

We're five hours from St. Louis and he's never driven in heavy traffic and I'll lay odds that his buddies with their shiny new drivers licenses haven't either.Thank God are laws in place that limit how many teenagers can ride in a car together so this decision is out of my hands.

"Really? How are you planning to get there?" I'm preparing myself to communicate the bad news to him.

"Kyle's going to have his pilot's license later this month and we were thinking that it would a lot easier if we fly up there . . . "

Whoops. The decision is in my hands after all. "Any adults on board?"

"No. Like I said, he'll have his pilot's license and he won't need an adult."

Four teenage boys in a small airplane. Oh yeah. I'm seeing this.

The news just got worse. "And you were just sure I'd go for this? Son, do you have any idea how this sounds? Sorry, but that is not happening."

His voice took on a whinging tinge that is reminescent of when he was little. "But Kyle will have his pilot's license . . . "

"You know, your grandmother once said something to me that I've thought about every time I've had to make big decisions involving you guys. When you were in first grade, I was worried about you not knowing how to read and I was pushing you really hard--you were spending a lot of hours in front of workbooks, you hated school and it was becoming a big battle of wills.

'I don't get it. He's so smart,' I said to Grammy.

She shrugged. 'He's not ready.'

I repeated myself. 'But at this age he should be able to ...'

And she stopped me and said, 'An eleven year old can learn to drive a car. It doesn't mean he should or that he's ready.'"

"Son, just because Kyle's got a pilot's license doesn't mean he's ready to fly solo with a bunch of teenagers along for the ride. There's a reason they put those laws into place in cars. Groups of teenagers were getting killed every year because--sorry it's true--you guys just aren't ready to deal with all the decisions you have to make behind the wheel, plus a carload of friends. Not during your first couple of years of driving. It's just too much. And flying is . . . Good lord . . . It's not like we can come pick you up if you run out of gas or have engine trouble in mid-air." I tried not to shudder at the image, but probably did anyway.

He didn't like hearing that at all, but he didn't argue further. The rest of the ride home was quiet.

I am so mean.

1 comment:

Scotty said...

That's the hard part of being a parent - making decisions that your kids are just gonna hate. But as I've told my kids, "I'm your parent first and foremost and that job requires me to protect you from yourself and from friends who make bad decisions for you.

Being your friend comes second and when you learn to respect my judgment, we'll be even better friends."