Adolescent sees mom as less and less cool
“I made new, cool friends this year. You are not allowed to talk to them,” instructed my sixth grader.
“I’m polite when I pick you up. I just say hello and make small talk while you pack up,” I defended.
“You can only talk to the other friends that you’ve known from other years,” insisted this daughter of mine.
Loved. I feel so loved.
This whole set of rules as to what I can and cannot do around Olivia at school grows with each year. It’s amusing and slightly annoying.
Today, I picked her up and she was sitting with the Cool Kids. I smiled and waved at them but no words came out of my mouth. I refrained from kissing her (which has not been publicly reciprocated for a couple years now) or putting my arm around her shoulder. (That’s the demoted version of a hug, which has also been too embarrassing for a while now.)
We got to the car. “So, how’d I do today? I didn’t speak to anyone under age 30 and I didn’t touch you in public. Does that meet the approved list of interactions?” I half-joked.
“Yes,” nodded Olivia.
I wonder if next year, I will be disallowed from even coming in the building to get her, or from identifying myself as her next-of-kin. Because, parents are so embarrassing, you know.
Gotta love her 💜💜💜