telephone, teenagers, Alica Mckenna Johnson

Photo by Marc Lagneau

Every parent knows that if you want attention from your child all you have to do is get on the phone. My kids have ignored me for hours upon hours, and yet I pick up the phone to make a call—they don’t even hear it ring—and their evil psychic nature that lets them know when a parent is happy or content turns on, and suddenly children are everywhere. Kids I’ve never even seen before are climbing all over me ,asking me for things, arguing, and wanting me to watch them do a trick.

But today the tables were turned. I came back from the gym—yes honestly, I went to the gym—and my son was on the phone. I didn’t realize he was on the phone because he uses his fancy headphones, so I said “HI” and asked how he was doing. He turns and shushes me. “Mom I’m on the phone with Erin.”

Seriously?

After years of tormenting me every time I picked up the phone this boy is shushing me?

He turned and went back to cooking his breakfast (not making any for me BTW) and says. “Sorry about that. It was just my mom.”

grapes, Alica Mckenna Johnson

Photo by cellar_door_films


I spent the rest of his conversation throwing grapes at him, at random intervals so he couldn’t block them, and occasionally interjecting my awesome thoughts and opinions into the conversation I could hear.

Do you have kids who shush you while they are on the phone? Do you respect that or get even for the past?