Friday, January 22, 2010

The Spy in my House

There's a spy in my house.  She reads emails, texts, Facebook posts, notes, journals, and diaries.  She listens at doors, eavesdrops on phone conversations and pries without shame into the private lives of those living here.  She know passwords to accounts, pushes open doors, and listens while others are talking to friends.

Oh, I'm good.

Which is how I have uncovered the fact that my daughter is writing about me in her journal.  Things like, "I think my mom and dad are doing it right now.  Ew."  WHAAAAAAATTTT?   But this is not the worst thing I have found.  No, readers, the excellent spy has apparently been duped.

This Christmas,  I finally allowed Abby to read the Twilight series, after two years of her begging and pleading.  We borrowed  the first book for her to read, and then someone gave her the second two books as a gift.  I then actually bought her the whole darn box set of four books that came complete with some bonus material, so she actually had some of the crazy books twice.  I was mother of the year.  She couldn't stop reading.   She was thanking me, kissing me, loving me.  I was a hero.

Then this, from the diary that Super Mother Spy found yesterday.  Note the date.

February 2, 2009:  "I'm reading the most fantastic book.  Breaking Dawn."  The entry went on to describe in detail about Bella's pregnancy, the late period, the romance, and how Abby's friend had let her borrow the book in school, and was bringing her the next one soon.  She wished she "didn't have to sneak them, but my mom wouldn't let her read them."

So she has now owned them twice, and read them. . .um. . THREE TIMES???  And she was faking her excitement when she read them AGAIN in December of 2009????  No wonder she got the lead in her school play.

I turned to my mom, master of handling tween and teen girls.  She told me to pick my battles, and to wait on this one.  Plus, she said, if I did let Abby know that I knew, and more importantly HOW I knew, then I would lose my power to know if she really wrote something important, something that I really might need to know.

I don't read her journals every day.  But occasionally, I peek.  I have to say it hurt my feelings, but I'm letting it go.  It was a book, after all.  Not a huge transgression.  A lie?  Yes.  But life threatening?  No.

I will buy her another box set of the books to present to her at her wedding rehearsal dinner, as a little gifts.  Oh, and to let her husband know what he has in store. . .

2 comments:

  1. Is this what I'm in store for? I'll take my poopy diapers and learning to tie shoes with grace.

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  2. Love this, Christy because it is so real! I remember warning my girls that anything in the house was fair game for me to read....."No, it's not that I don't trust YOU, it's that I don't trust teenagers and as long as you are one....." I don't think I ever really even looked at there things to be honest.....TMI, as they say. I was paniced enough by the stuff I knew they were doing!!! Well, they both grew up to be somewhere along the "normal" spectrum (barely!).

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