Princess

"No one can say 'no' to me" Michaela, my 17-year-old, told me yesterday. It's certainly something I've had to work on.

Yesterday she went to a friend's house after I had told her not to go till I got home. I was really mad, not only that she'd left before I arrived but also because she'd made a mess in every room in the house. What am I, her personal maid? I stomped angrily around the place for a bit then went to the friend's and brought her back home. On the way back she pouted and said she was gonna run away.

Go ahead, said I, I'll keep your new laptop and cancel your cell phone.
Then I'll light up a cigarette and put it out on my arm, she said.
I think we both should light cigarettes and put them out on our arms, I said.
Want to smoke one? she said.
It will get my car all smelly, I said.
We'll roll down the windows, she said. That's what me and Kendall did and you never knew we smoked in your car.
Then let's light up, I said, though I'm not a smoker.

And so we shared a cigarette. And later she told that no one could ever say no to her.

Funny Story

So last Saturday Joe invited me to come with him and his little girl to World of Wonder, a local children's museum/play place. I went. Lauren and I had a great time playing dress-up and chasing each other around.

A weird thing happened though. While Joe and I sat in front of the little stage, eagerly awaiting her performance, he told me a story. Lauren had asked him if he loved me. She's an intuitive little thing, he said. Then he said, "NO!" loudly and laughingly.

I just looked at him. It's a painful topic for me since a couple months ago I told him I loved him and he said he didn't feel that way. So now it's a joke? It's casual conversation? Where does the intuition come in? I could think of nothing to say that wouldn't betray that I was affected so I said nothing and just looked away.

I've thought of things since, of course. "That's a funny story but I'm not really the audience for it" or "It is amusing that anyone might think you felt that way about me" or "She totally missed that call, didn't she?" or "How could she be so wrong?" or simply "Of course not."