Ok, so in a nutshell––we suck as parents. No, no, honestly…we do. We are horrible parents. You may not agree now, but you will…
My son, Caleb, had a Thanksgiving performance today at his school. You know, the kind where all the kids dress up like pilgrims or turkeys (didn’t the pilgrims eat the turkeys? Anyway…) and then sing some silly songs. If you’ve been to one of these things than you realize what the kids tend to do. They all stand up there performing for an audience of one––their parents. Their eyes are locked onto each and every expression their parents make, and likewise. So our son is up there singing away, proud as can be, looking for his parents (us) in the crowd. He looks, and looks, and looks…and looks……and looks. But he cannot find them. Why? Because we suck as parents, that’s why. We forgot!!!! Crap! (I could use another explicative, but I’ll choose this one). His poor little heart. Just sitting up there; the two people dearest to him are not there. Crap.
So when I go to pick up Caleb from school this afternoon he asks, “Dad, did you see my play?”
“Ughhhh…….no bud, I’m sorry, I didn’t even know about it.” Which I didn’t. So I suppose that gets me off the hook, a little.
“But mom knew,” he said.
“I’m really sorry, bud,” trying to change the subject, “Did you sing good?” Crap.
We came home. Jen saw his pilgrim hat and just crumbled. Then to rub salt on the wounds, Caleb began to sing some of his songs from the performance. Open the floodgates of tears. “Mom, why are you crying?” Because we suck as parents, that’s why!
But, I take comfort––all be it twisted––in the fact that we are not the only parents who suck. Two of our friends forgot too. But at least they had the wisdom, unlike me, to lie to their kids: “Um, yea honey, I saw it. I was in the back where you couldn’t see me.”
Crap. Why didn’t I think of that?
P.S. I hope you picked up on the sarcasm and tongue-in-cheekness! 
