If you can watch this video and not see your teenager in it at all, then you are a better parent than I. You have earned the right to leave self-satisfied and critical comments about my failures as a parent. The rest of you are welcome to join my club.
The friend who shared this video, a mother of three boys, confessed it cuts a little close to home. That reassured me as, at least publicly, her boys are delightful. I watched the video, laughed out loud (and I was in my office cubicle at the time) and then got worried that I, who have been known to dive into a garbage pail to retrieve a penny, couldn’t say with all certainty that my 13-year-old son would never use a dollar bill to squash a bug.
I showed my son the video, praying that he would see the humor. He did, which also made me feel a little better. Surely, being able to laugh at such spoiled behavior is a step toward recovery. But then I asked if, caught without tissue or paper, he would even consider using a dollar to kill a bug. He shrugged and said, “I might.”
Do I at least get credit for raising him to be honest?
