Friday, March 16, 2007

This is for Betty. Hope it Brings a Smile. I

Yes, I am posting this primarily for Betty over at W.A.Y.A. concerning her post about 'Mother of the Year'

It got me to remembering the times when I was a kid that my parents were not there for me (or so I thought) or that I just wanted more independence.

This is the first of 3 posts:

- The J.C. Penney's Hide and Seek
- The Day I convinced my younger brother to run away
- The Day I was left behind and STILL did not get any Ice Cream - Dammit!

The J.C. Penney's Hide and Seek
Back in the day when the world was a kinder and gentler place. Where strangers thought nothing of helping people. Where men were men and sheep were scared...(this is a story about my high school football team).

Yes, this happened in the early 1970's. Mom and Dad took us Christmas shopping at the local mall. While we were wandering around, looking at clothes and shoes, it was discovered that elder sib had disappeared. Mom and dad decided that they needed to canvas the store and that taking us along was only going to slow them down. They plopped us down in the electronic dept. in front of the t.v. and asked if we would be ok if they left us alone for a few minutes.


Yes! we cried. T.V. and no parents? Hell, Yes!
They promised to be back in 15 minutes. After a few commercials had zipped past, I got to looking around and decided that it was waaaaaay longer than 15 minutes and that me MUST go to the car to make sure that Mom and Dad had not yet left (hang around for the 3rd installment and you will understand).

So after a little fast talk, I convinced younger sib to wander the parking lot with me (at night) to find our car. We eventually did. And seeing that nobody was in it, I reasoned that the parentals were still in the store. So, after even more convincing, little sib and I took off through the mall to find our parents.

About an hour after that we wandered into the t.v. section of the J.C. Penney's to find mom and dad sweating bullets. However, since they were a few minutes late to begin with, we were not in any trouble.

We also were never taken on any subsequent Christmas shopping trips.

6 comments:

MdG said...

Tell me that I'm not the only parent who gets freaked out when their kid hides in the clothing rounds.
And naturally it's her most favorite thing to do.

Pageant Mom said...

I put my kids on a leash...

(oh what do the next 2 posts have in store??)

Maria said...

I used to purposely "get lost" in department stores so that I could hear my name announced over the loudspeaker.....

dennis said...

girl.imp loves nothing better than to go into a mall in a strange city and to take of running. she once got around a corner ahead of me and disappeared into the clothing racks of a store and took me 15 minutes to find her!

pageant mom: the boys will be boys posts are coming...well that and one about 'abandonment'

Creative-Type Dad said...

See that's why I carry duct tape with me at all times, just in case I need to secure the kid to a department store TV

wayabetty said...

Like I mentioned before "misery loves company" so thanks for making me feel better!! ;-)