The “Super Ball”

December 31,2018..Ed and I decided to stay home with the kids this New Years Eve. The way we saw it, this was Maverick’s first New Years and we’re counting down the years until the kids start wanting to do their own thing. Olivia was dancing around all day all excited for the big night. Then Jake asked me the dreaded question every teenage parent is eventually faced with..”Can I go to a party tonight?”.

There it is. The beginning of the end. The start of loosening the reigns and praying all the horror stories you have drilled into their heads about strangers, drugs, girls, sex..will overpower the raging hormones and desperate desire to make awful decisions.  The response was easy. “Ask your Father”. Damn if I was going down with this alone!

After several hours of lectures from Ed and more chores being performed in one night than his entire existence, he finally got an answer from him, “No fucking way”. Of course I overruled him and stepped in before the response would flood out of a frustrated teenagers mouth that would forever condemn him to house arrest. He ran out of this house faster than the dive into the bathroom when I tell him to clean his room.

After a few glasses of wine and a mental block of all my teenage experiences, we slap a party had on Maverick, seperate Olivia’s face from the iPad that she’s been glued to and gather on the couch to watch the festivities before the countdown. Olivia was pouncing up and down and teaching Maverick to do the same. She loves music, so I assumed her anticipation of her favorite performers would hold her attention throughout the night. Then she asked, “When do the commercials start?. Confused by the comment, Ed and I looked at each other visibly confused.

“Do you have to go to the bathroom? I can pause it”

”No. I just can’t wait to see the Super Ball commercials. When do they start?”

Then it dawned on me. She was talking about the Super Bowl. I tried gently explaining to her as Ed buried his face in a pillow to hide his hysterics that the ball dropping was just that..and the Super Bowl was a football game a few weeks away that has really cool commercials. She was pissed!

“You mean to tell me I was waiting all day to watch people sing? I’m going to bed”. She did! She went down to her room all pissy and went to sleep.

Maverick, still wearing his New Years hat, watched the performers and jumped up on us with excitement as we screamed “Happy New Year!”. At least someone will be sticking around to party with us for a few years.

Jake wandered in around 1am wearing sunglasses and a sugared out smile and stated with absolute certainty, “I am Ferris Bueler”. He walked straight into his room and closed the door. Ed and I stood at the top of the steps just starting at each other for about 30 seconds, decided not to exchange our thoughts and decended to the bedroom. I brought the wine. Maverick gave us a good night kiss, the jumped into his bed, flipped on his back and passed out..still in his party hat.

Bring it on 2019. I’m ready..not!