Boys are Ostriches

I am sorry to admit it, but, well... I have a teenage son. Wait, on second thought, perhaps I should proudly be declaring that, because he has survived my wrath this long. I know this is quite the feat because of a certain phrase that I have said so often, even his 4 yr old sister now says it, "What were you thinking son?"

I know, that is another of those dumb parent questions that we instantly regret, knowing that we will get some idiotic answer.

Today, we are riding the merry-go-'round about his cell phone. No, he hasn't been getting or sending anything inappropriate. This time, he was too lazy to buy his texting minutes and has spent $50 in two weeks, mostly through texting.

I am going to call this what Dave Ramsey does- this is a Joe Cool "stupid tax". He has a pay-as-you-go phone, to help him manage his money and phone usage. $20 would have paid for a months worth of texting, the other $30 was given to him as a gift by his Granny. Because he was too lazy, obtuse, stubborn or whatever, he now is out of minutes and has 2 weeks of time left before he is allowed to buy more. (we help him budget by letting him renew the minutes once a month)

Ostriches in the sand. Boys. TEEN Boys. Sticking their heads down deep in the comfort of the sand, blocking out noise and thought. Coming up for air only long enough to vacuum out the refrigerator, look around while scratching something and saying, "WHUT?" and "HUH?" with a Homer Simpson, "DOH" face.

If I were a Mama Ostrich, I would have plucked all my own feathers out by now. I would be walking around with my scrawny bird legs and a bare Ostrich tush waddling- honking (what do ostriches sound like, anyway?) and pecking Joe in the head. Sigh. Instead, I use my mommy-isms and walk around muttering to myself, shaking my head and eating pasta.

This is another of those learning and growing moments. I know. But man, I sure wish this turkey, I mean ostrich, would bring back that fella with a brain and common sense- Please, and for the love of his mothers sanity, soon.