Dissonance

I didn’t make it to the beach yesterday. I blew it off because Gabby caused a . . . Ok, it was because I stayed up too late and overslept. It was Saturday morning. When I woke up I decided to stay one with my california king bed for a few more hours and man, oh, man, did I ever.

As soon as I crawled out of bed and stepped out of my bedroom Gabby roared up in my face and asked if she could meet her friend at Barnes & Noble.
Me: I thought you had a butt-load of Geometry to complete before Monday.
Her: I do. We both do.
Me: Well, why the hell are you two wanting to go to the bookstore?
Her: To do our homework.
Me: (head in lap, scratching head with both hands)
Her: (anticipating my next question) Lots of kids at my school do this. It’s peaceful and quiet and there’s a Starbucks in there.
Me: ?
Me: I see.

So off to Barnes & Noble we went. I didn’t just fall off the turnip wagon; I know they are probably there to see and be seen. That’s okay though. They could be doing a lot worse. If they were bad kids they wouldn’t be hanging out at a bookstore doing homework. When I picked her up I asked if she finished her homework there. She said they finished about half of it. When I asked why they only finished half of it she said “because all those books in there are so distracting”.

I am so not worried about my daughter or her group of friends. In fact, I don’t feel that I’m worthy of this peace of mind. I was a parent’s nightmare as a teen.