Saturday, August 6, 2011

DON'T "DO THE OSTRICH"




I have been busy, busy, busy this week doing the Band Mom "thing" for band camp.  My teen son is a Senior this year, so this'll be his (and my) last camp.  Someone asked me if that made me sad, but I was like, "not really."  I mean, it's been fun and all, but nothing stays the same, and it shouldn't.  Time marches on and we just have to adapt and move on right with it.  I enjoyed volunteering in the grade school, then the upper grade school, then the junior high, and now the high school.  And, when that is over, it'll be time to say, "C'est la vie" and embrace the next phase.  


Which leads me to what happened last evening at the annual potluck that is held after the first week of Band Camp.  It's usually a fun time meeting and greeting new Freshman parents and catching up on what is happening with fellow band parents.  So, hubby, son, and I were sitting with hubby's sister, and hubs was telling us that he had chatted with this other band mom and had said to her, "Can you believe that your son is a Senior?"  (Now, keep in mind that our son is also a Senior, but we have a very different approach to this question than she did!)


She got really upset that my husband asked her that and he told me that she just "clammed up" and wouldn't say another word to him.  When he told us about this little episode, I thought that she probably was just kidding around with him and decided to ask her about it when I saw her.  So, as "luck" would have it, she walked right by our table just as he finished telling me this story.  When she got by me, I said to her, "Hi! How are you doing!!!!  Can you believe that your son and my son are finally Seniors?"  


OH. BOY.  


WRONG-O THING TO SAY.


BECAUSE HUBS WAS NOT KIDDING.


SHE GOT REALLY MAD.


IMMEDIATELY her friendly smile withered away to nothing and was replaced by an ugly, angry scowl.  Her eyes turned cold as ice, her body language went from relaxed to stiffened as she clamped her lips firmly shut and stomped off.  I could NOT believe it!!  I shouted after her, "Hey, I was only kidding....seriously....are you really mad?"  And, she didn't turn around at all.  She just stiffly walked out of the building and went outside.


I was stunned.....so was everyone else sitting there.....The change in her, with that one sentence, was just incredible.  I said to everyone that saw it, "Boy, I feel really bad.  I really didn't think that she'd get THAT mad!"  But, there was not much I could do to make it better.  I decided to just go on with my meal and try to find her later and apologize.


Well, she came back into the room, stormed right over to where I was sitting, pointed at me and looked me straight in the eye and said with a very cold voice that held absolutely no emotion, "It's a good thing that you are a church going woman or I would say some words to you that you wouldn't want to hear."  And, with that statement, she stormed off again.......


Me thinks that there is something not right with her "upstairs" and I am going to A.V.O.I.D. conversing with her for awhile.  There is an obvious problem and I'm not willing to get myself all upset because of her.  Both of our sons are graduating and that is a fact.  Nothing can change that.  She can "stick her head in the sand" and avoid the obvious, and that is her choice.  But, that is not my choice.  I am going to enjoy this last year, because this is truly the last high school year.  I have no other kids in school.....teen son is the last one.  I'm going to have a good time, enjoy the camaraderie (for the most part), do what I can to help with the competitions, volunteer at the music functions, and when it is all said and done, next May, and those Senior kids walk down that aisle with their cap and gowns on, I'll shed a few tears and then just turn my face to the future and not look back. 


But, until then, there is much band mom "stuff" to do and I'm just doin' what I can and enjoyin' the fun!  (and, for those of you who are wondering....I haven't touched a screwdriver yet since this last post!   ;)


A.Marie 



4 comments:

  1. Goodness! She sounds like she must be a few fries short of a Happy Meal! Get upset? Maybe. But not at someone pointing out the obvious. Crying and sadness would make sense, when your child is becoming an adult really soon. But rage? Especially at people who haven't a thing to do with it. That's just weird...

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  2. Dawna, I wish you had been sitting beside me and said the "few fries short of a Happy Meal" phrase. That would have gotten everybody cracking up!!! :)

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  3. Oh goodness! Some people don't do well with change!!! Pray for that lady, because her little birdie leaving the nest is really difficult for her to deal with!!!

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  4. Yikes!!!! Give me her email and I'll send her that question every day this year while her son is a Senior.. :)
    She's definitely having some empty nesting issues...
    My sister would start to cry when her son started 6th grade, because in 7 years he'll be in *ssh* COLLEGE *ssh*
    sheesh...

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