As parents, we need to know what's going on with our teens, what they are doing, and where their interests lie. It's about being a part of their lives, living in community with them, and making a daily choice to not live with them in ignorance. Even though they may want to tune us out, and demand their privacy, it's not healthy to let them get too far out of our sight... not yet, anyway.
Hindsight is 20/20. (God... how many times have I heard that?) Oh, that I could take back time, and do things differently...
So, my older son had all these signs and stickers that said "420"posted all over his room, skateboard, heck, everywhere... did I think it was important to know what 420 meant? I guess not.
Heck, people, we have got to ask. (I know, it doesn't mean that they will tell us, right?) But still, just ask, because maybe they will.
Today, my younger son, who is doing incredibly well in his fight to stay away from drugs (read more here), asked me if he could "take a personal day" and not go to school. So, I asked why. And he told me it was the day before 420 day. What's that? I asked. "Really, Mom, you actually do not know about 420 day???" was his reply...
Uh, no, I don't.
Please tell me more...
First of all, let me tell you, my boys didn't always tell me these things. They were as secretive and covert as FBI agents, especially when it came to anything relating to drugs. It is a miracle in my book that we have crossed the threshold of truth. And now, they divulge things about drugs, their past, how they feel, what's going on with them... pretty much everything. Ahhh, well, except girl stuff that is. (Ok, I will give them that measure of privacy for now. When a serious girlfriend comes along, I will pry. I know I will. And, hopefully that threshold of established truth will allow them to feel comfortable in telling me about that too.)
From Ask.com's Urban Legends:
What 420 is, whether expressed in the form 4:20 (as a time of day), 4/20 (as a calendar date), or just the unadorned numeral (pronounced "four-twenty") is a universal, unofficial symbol for the use and appreciation for marijuana. In fact, 4/20, or April 20th, has come to be known in certain circles as "Marijuana Appreciation Day." Read more here.
I guess the main topic at school today was not a looming test, or what homework is due in whichever class, but instead the where, when, the why and the how of how to experience, and appreciate marijuana, and get flippin' high. Along with where the parties are going to be. Let me tell you, there are going to be par-tays.
So, yep, I let him stay home from school.
And I promised I'd take him to Disneyland. Maybe I'll buy him a condo too.
-just kidding...
