Cutting deep

It was a very long week and we had a lazy Saturday. Oh, we got our usual chores done, but that was it. Ali managed to get a few of her chores but she had a few treats between reading on the couch, playing computer in her room and watching TV.

At one point, she was about to receive another small favor and I remarked that she had a pretty good life.

"I have a good Mom. There IS a difference," she said.

Little suck-up.

Earlier, we were discussing what we will do tomorrow when Drew and Jenna come over. All of Ali's ideas were good, though most involved my credit card, but they were very girl-focused. I kept reminding her that we needed to think about what 12-year-old Drew might like.

"I do not understand the species of boy, Mom," she said in frustration.

I stopped myself from revealing that she never would....

When I dropped Ali off to play at Jenna's Sunday afternoon before the big sleepover here, Alison was plotting ways to torture Drew and Jenna was plotting a way for him to NOT be involved in HER sleepover. Drew, I'm sure was upstairs in his room on his knees praying to avoid both the girls.

Turned out, everyone got their wish. Tom devised a plan for Drew to be his own man and the girls have been here whooping it up.

They wanted to sleep outside in the tent but didn't last beyond 30 minutes. Used to be, Alison was a backyard nature lover. Last night she got spooked by a car alarm and the memory of a guy in our neighborhood walking to his car with guns. I didn't stop to see if they were real, and he isn't a regular so we were hoping he was a grandson now long gone. In any event, she decided it would be best to sleep indoors in case his visit was longer and he was out at night.

Today has been cookie decoration day. In between rolling them out, cutting them out and decorating, we had an interesting coversation about the girlfriend code. They were making me listen to rock-n-roll music and "Jessie's Girl" came on.

I felt compelled to inform them about the girlfriend code.

"Mom. I've known about the girlfriend code since first grade," Alison said.

"Really? What it is?"

"You can't go out with your friend's boyfriend," she said.

"Who told you THAT?" I asked, a bit outraged at having my role usurped.

She sighed. "You did."

"I did? Really?"

"Yes."

Man, I'm ahead of the curve, I thought, wondering what had prompted it then. And then, I'm the one learning:

"You know, Miss Cheryl, if he's moved on and she's moved on, you can date your girlfriend's OLD boyfriend," Jenna said.

Moved on? Moved on? What does that mean?

"But what if she still loves him and he's the only one who's moved on?" I asked.

"Well. "You know, if it's over," she said.

I almost turned them around and them look me in the eye. "The code says you can't date your girlfriend's boyfriend. Period. That's it," I said. "That's the code."

Without even seeing them, I knew they were rolling their eyes.


"Why are we even talking about this?" Alison asked.

"Because it's my job to teach you stuff. Like the code," I sputtered.

Jenna laughed. "Yeah. Like she learned her code back when she was a girl. Like back in the fifties!"

I'm still trying to get the last bits of blood off the floor. You know, the ones that dripped when I removed the knives they were sticking in my heart. My old, fading, barely beating heart.