Looking for writing-related posts? Check out my new writing blog, www.larrykollar.com!

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Wife-BOOM-ba

“It’s quiet... too quiet.”

Or it was.

The Boy has lately been reneging on his agreement to be in bed by 11 on weeknights. Naturally, this makes him harder to get out of bed in the mornings, but that’s not the issue at hand.

Last night, he was told several times to get upstairs and get to bed. Around 11:30, SWMBO ordered me to go upstairs and “find out what all that banging is about.” (His bedroom is directly above the living room, and anything that interferes with her TV watching is Not Allowed.) So I went upstairs, to find Lobster in bed and The Boy sitting on the floor next to his bed. Given the general order of the room, it looked like he’d been cleaning.

“What was that thud noise your mom heard?”

"What noise? I dropped the Xbox, is all.”

“Fine,” I told him, ”get to bed, it’s 11:30.” He got up and got in bed, I went downstairs.

“He dropped his Xbox,” I told SWMBO. “It looked like he was cleaning up his room a bit.”

“He’s supposed to be in bed now!” she barked, with a tone that implied that I was to blame for this whole thing. Like I said, next to idiots in Accounts Receivable, nothing puts her back up faster than interrupting her TV.

“I told him that,” I replied, using a similar tone. A while back, SWMBO told me I needed to stand up for myself more often. She was right. Change begins at home.

It didn’t help matters that music started coming down the stairs at that moment. Of course, she told me to go up and tell them to shut it off, then stopped me. “Just stand where you can hear,” she said. “I’m going to find the breaker and turn it off.”

So I stood at the bottom of the stairs, and she started flipping breakers. “Did that do it? Did that do it?” even after I told her that I would let her know as soon as the music stopped. I saw the bathroom lights go off and on, then Daughter Dearest came out of her room.

“What happened to the lights?” she said. I explained, while SWMBO went through the entire breaker box unsuccessfully.

“There’s got to be more breakers,” she said.

“There’s that box in the garage,” I reminded her. “Do you want to go out there, or do you want me to go?”

At this point, she got even more irrational, and repeated her assertion that there had to be more breakers. I simply repeated what I said, not that it did any good. Finally, she threw up her hands and told me to go tell them to turn off the music. (I have absolutely no clue what the problem was with going to the garage.)

So I went upstairs, and turned off the stereo since it’s right inside his door. The Boy, who was laying in bed by this point, got huffy. “I was just playing that one song for Lobster!”

“Doesn’t matter, you should have been in bed for a while now. You agreed to 11 o’clock, lights out, stereo off.”

He just shook his head. “Why is it such a big deal?”

“Because it’s bothering your mom!” I said.

She was 1) listening at the bottom of the stairs, and 2) took offense. “He can just listen to his %&#@!! music all he wants to, for all I care!!!” SLAM went the doors. I gave The Boy a dirty look.

“Why did she go off like that?” he asked.

“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “If you had done what you agreed to do, none of this would have happened, and you would be easier to get up in the morning.” I left and went back downstairs to put up the laptop.

SWMBO was in the bedroom as I came in; I just started putting things away and she huffed out. Next thing I know, I heard The Barge going out. She probably went down to her mom’s; all I know for sure is she didn’t come back. I went to bed. When caught by forces of nature, it’s best to just ride it out and move on.

After about 20 minutes, The Boy came downstairs and we talked for a while. We talked about things; he said he was going to save his money and move out by January.

“Just hang in there for a while and it’ll blow over,” I said. He claimed to take offense to SWMBO’s use of “%&#@!!” and so forth. I wanted to tell him that lying about not smoking was just as bad as foul language — SWMBO found a pack of cigs in his room last week — but it wasn’t the time. So we talked about things for another 20 minutes; after we finished I told him we needed to talk more often, but not at 1 a.m.

So I’m working at home today. SWMBO came in long enough to get a change of clothes, then off to the chicken houses. Neither of us said anything. What... ever. Like the computer said in War Games, “the only way to win is not to play.” If she doesn’t come back, I’ll put FAR Manor on the market and move closer to work. She knows that, so I expect she’ll be in by lunch and pretend nothing ever happened.

8 comments:

  1. One question, is Lobster an animal or a person? I mean to say, is he your dog?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hmmm....mini-marriage event....

    We call snits like that in our house "marriage events". Usually something else is going on and we take it out in irrational behavior on the other.

    Kids...well they used to send us to the edge of sanity regularly.

    So have a hug from one that finally got the kids to move out (in their 20's...). Kids aren't rational until about 25-28...now at 35 daughter is reasonably normal - well by our standards. ;^D

    Hugs....

    ReplyDelete
  3. UPDATE: She came back in about 10 this morning, watched TV until noon, then went to bed as I was fixing lunch (and offered to fix her one). She looked like she’d had less sleep than I did, and I got maybe five hours.

    Austin, Lobster is a kid (age 18) who lives with us. I probably ought to create a post explaining who’s who here.

    OMG, Cerridwen, they’re going to be here into their 20s? I don’t know if I can take it! :-P Actually, The Boy is talking about bugging out as soon as he can live on his own. I’m trying to encourage him to stay until he finishes school, anyway. I’ve heard that the brain isn’t fully developed until 20-something, at which point the person starts becoming rational.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I had the intellectual levels of an adult at age ten, but I was always a high functioning child, except for some reason I never could and still can't figure much in the way of my multiplication tables. So it really depends on who you are and your drive in life when your brain matures, and it is maturing of the brain, not maturing of the body that brings manhood, tell The Boy that.

    Also, I like the idea of explaining who everyone is, honestly, I haven't the slightest who is in your family, who is not etc. Except The Boy and DD are your son and daughter, the wife is obviously your wife, and MAE is The Boy's girlfriend, otherwise it confuses me.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I don't know how you found http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/2005/10/problem-solving.html
    my blog. But thanks for the comment.

    BTW cigarettes are http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/2005/09/more-vindication.html
    an anti-depressant but pot is easier on the body.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Amen M. Simon, that is actually true. A little cig ain't bad for you, its actually good.

    ReplyDelete
  7. M. Simon: well, you commented in Austin's blog (which I read) and left a link...

    I think an occasional cig is probably OK (going back to the "self-medication" meme)... the problem is, they're emotionally addictive quickly and physically addictive shortly after. My son is 17 & it didn't take him long at all to get hooked.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I was 12 when I started.

    ReplyDelete

Comments are welcome, and they don't have to be complimentary. I delete spam on sight, but that's pretty much it for moderation. Long off-topic rants or unconstructive flamage are also candidates for deletion but I haven’t seen any of that so far.

I have comment moderation on for posts over a week old, but that’s so I’ll see them.

Include your Twitter handle if you want a shout-out.

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...