#251
Me: One of your friends told me you got benched in PE. What was that about?
Rockstar: I don’t remember.
Me: I know you do. Come on, tell me, what did you do?
Rockstar: I was talking to (classmate).
Me: You guys were benched for talking when you weren’t supposed to be talking?
Rockstar: No, only me.
Me: How come?
Rockstar: I was talking more.
Me: <stifling a snort> More good news for me. And why was that?
Rockstar: I really, really wanted to know if it was Germany or London that he said he was going to at Easter. So I kept asking him.
Me: And I suppose he knew to stop talking when you guys were supposed to stop, and you didn’t. And you were just asking and asking until you got caught for talking.
Rockstar: No, I know we’re not supposed to talk. But I really, really wanted to know if it was Germany or London.
Me: So you got benched.
Rockstar: <sheepish> Yeah.
Me: <?? fishing for contrition> Which is what happens if you don’t follow instructions.
Rockstar: Yeah. Fine. <shrugs> I really really wanted to know –
Me: <mild dismay> No. No, it’s not fine. The punishment is there so you don’t do the crime, they don’t want you to talk. It’s not like you exchange punishment for getting to talk. Burglars don’t go up to policemen and say “Ok, I want to steal a few things now, so you can just jail me after.” You’re just not supposed to steal.
(Rockstar looks dubious. Maybe my analogy. Burglars actually don’t do that because they lie about it. Ok, bad analogy.)
Me: You didn’t get an answer anyway right, because your friend knew to stop talking? So you may as well not talk?
Rockstar: Oh. Yeah. Hee.
Me: And anyway I don’t want to get into trouble with your friend’s mum because I have The Boy Who Got Her Child In Trouble. No one else might want to get benched except you.
Rockstar: <like I’m stupid> Which is wh-y, he-didn’t-talk.
Me: Y-eah. Ok. Can you please. Work. On. NOT talking. When you are not. Supposed. To be talking.
Rockstar: Hee hee hee.
Me: I’m serious... I’ll add something to it if I hear any more – we can always cut Youtube time if you need help remembering.
Rockstar: Oh, yeah. O-kayyy…
Smartypants in new favorite Gangnam Style t-shirt one of his friends gave him from Phuket
Woah, Mommy has got little spies in school! Ok, serious now. Hopefully from this experience of getting benched, Rockstar has learned that he has got to toe the line.
Yeah I hope so ok, he’s been going through a patch of interrupting all our conversations at home and I really hope he’s not doing that in an undesirable way at school..
The mummy’s spies thing sounds awful, for the record I don’t ask ok, one of his friends happened to blurt out that he’d been benched when I was around..
Now that I reread my comment, that line really does sound awful. Sorry, I don’t mean to imply that you purposely go about in school asking his friends about him. Just that Rockstar has to be on his best behaviour now since his friends do tell on him. But then again, the teachers will also report this to parents on meet-the-teachers days in school so there is no way parents wouldn’t know.
Seriously don’t worry about it. I know you didn’t mean it that way, plus it’s a phrase that sometimes we’re desensitized to because there are people around us who tend to use it frivolously… I just really hated the way it sounded is all… I don’t know if it sounds different in some chinese dialects, kings had an old female friend who even once said to me when we met that she knew kings’ mum well and that she would be “spying” on me (like, when does that EVER sound ok to say?!) but there she was… Anyway she’s not you and I hammered her for it 😀 Totally deserved it, if you ask me. Her, not you. Even without your email apology 🙂 it’s really ok, I know you didn’t mean it the way it sounds, you’ve commented on my blog for years
Thanks Aileen for being so understanding.