In the 80's, in my teens, I adored the mall. I loved the stores, the lights, the food stalls, all of it. As soon as my friend, Andria, could drive, our first destination was the mall. Since I was a year younger, I was 15 with about $100 in my pocket and ready to shoe shop at Macy's. Oh heavenly bliss.
Let's be honest, this is kind of a right of passage for most females. You get to be a certain age, you want the mall. You want to walk around and linger, even if you only have 50 cents in your pocket, it's just the thing, right? Maybe not for all, but at least 95%.
Now at 37, the idea of mall shopping is a lot like the idea of a root canal. No, thank you, but to my teen daughter? Oh yeah, it's her paradise.
So, this is why I was shocked this weekend when she and her boyfriend were "detained" at the mall my family and I were frequenting. Apparently, teens are not allowed to walk around the mall without guardians unless they can prove they are 18 years of age. If they're caught without ID, they have to wait with the person who caught them or go into a larger store (Best Buy, Macy's, JC Penney) until parents arrive.
Even stranger was the fact that they were detained by a man in a wheelchair, not a mall cop, who perhaps volunteers or works for the mall, had various walkie talkies which seemed official looking and seemed to be on some mall cop frequency, and who proceeded to loudly lecture my daughter while he sputtered, lisped, and stuttered (To be honest, she couldn't understand a word the guy spat at her) until I could run to where she was waiting.
And ran I did. I get a cellphone call from my daughter that says, "Mom, come to where I am, a man is yelling at me," and all I need to know is where you're at. Hell, I'll track her by scent if need be. When I get to her, I don't even stop to find out if this guy was official, I got between him and my daughter (he had her against the railing), moved her forward away from him, looked down in his face and yelled, "That's about enough. You back up and cast off." This strange looking man in red glasses (the lenses were red as well) gave my daughter the oddest smile and just nodded back at me, while I guided daughter and boyfriend away.
Now, I believe in keeping the children of America safe. I watched my children when they were children. They had to hold my hand or my belt loop. They were not allowed to wander or play unsupervised, but my daughter is almost 15 and her boyfriend is 6' tall and the same age. They're okay walking in the mall. It's one of the only things they're allowed to do alone (as long as he stays with her) .
So, is it just me or is this teen police thing a bit, well, neurotic? Don't get me wrong, I'm good with neurotic, but this seems a bit like neurotic in a gestapo sort of way. Not cleaning the grout with a toothbrush neurotic, but crazy ass rule that makes no sense neurotic. What do you think?
No teens walking in the mall after 5pm, good or bad?
I took second place in Jason Evans' writing contest! I'm actually really surprised, but honored more than anything. Alas, I broke my 5th place streak. =/
Also, just wanted to mention, once a week (usually on Mondays), I update my blog. When I do this, I go around to all the bloggers who visited me the prior week and sometimes even the week before that. I do this to be sure I'm going where I'm wanted. Usually after going to regulars or new people a couple of times without seeing them return here, I take the hint and move on, possibly never to return. Does this make me weird?
Anyhow, I blog once a week, not daily. One blogger thought I was solely trying to promote my own blog by not visiting her more or something like that and I realized, maybe a lot of bloggers think this. Believe me, if I wanted to advertise, I'd be doing this daily. Frankly, doing this once-a-week, makes me not only enjoy it, but keeps it manageable. I want to keep this fun and enjoyable ... and nothing like work
Now for the one question I usually ask, I've shared my good news, anyone else want to share some?
Hello, everyone. This beautiful picture was taken by Jason Evans and serves as inspiration for his latest contest. In lieu of a weekly post, I'm sharing my submission to his writing contest, Restless Dawn. It's only 250 words, 249 perhaps, so a quick read and here's the direct link to mine: Sunrise Faith
You can leave comments there if you wish and they would be much appreciated by me. I had trouble wrapping my head around this one, but there are some fantastic entries. If you're looking for a way to pass some time, give them a lookilu.
First, let me thank everyone who came here and offered up all that sage advice regarding my children wanting more for Christmas, then just the cash when they found out we weren't raising our limit. And to those who didn't care enough to leave anything at all? Well, piss on you. =) (humor)
I'd just like to say a decision regarding my children's Christmas was made. The monetary amount stays at $300. However, instead of little presents, little stocking stuffers, and the like, we've decided to just give them the cash. They can do with it what they like and that's the only thing they'll receive from us on Christmas.
The hard part of this was not knowing the best course of action. I have nieces who have always received so little. Their parents spent more on each other than on their own kids and these children never complained, but seemed so sad on the holidays. I don't want my children to be the type of children to settle for nothing, to not demand more, but I also don't want to raise children who feel entitled either.
In other news, my husband and I have a $50 cap and will give presents to one another on Christmas morning. We hope the children have fun playing with their cash. Something tells me they'll regret their decision of not wanting anything beyond money and I'll feel a major amount of guilt, but a statement has to be made before things get out of control.
They will also be volunteering with myself this season at a mission or Salvation Army. I am still researching where we can be of best use, but I wanted to make sure you all knew the update.
And as always, I leave you with a question: what's your biggest holiday worry this season? Thanks, again.
