Smashing Pumpkins (part I)

I hate to “pick on” Eli again, but so many of life’s lessons have come to me through him. This is a lesson on love…

Eli is and always has been a music expert. It amazes me that he can name the artist for any version of any song in every genre from classical to classic rock (except for country, he doesn’t like country). His favorite group all through high school was Smashing Pumpkins. So it was a natural thing for him to want to attend a concert of theirs when an opportunity came, and one did. The concert was in a city 2+ hours away on a Monday night and he came to us a month or so out, asking permission to drive up there. We thought about it (not that long, I admit) and flatly refused. It was a school night, he’d be in no shape for seminary and school the next day, his car probably couldn’t safely make the trip, and Smashing Pumpkins?!? We frankly couldn’t see the draw… Maybe next time. End of story, right?

But no, Eli really wanted to go to that concert. He applied for a job at K-mart and a couple of weeks later announced that he’d been hired and would be attending a training session at K-mart on a Monday evening (the same Monday evening at the concert). I don’t know if he figured I wouldn’t notice the coincidence, but I did, and knew what he was up to. It therefore became my goal, as a “good mother” of course, to sabotage his plans. I stewed about it for some time and the day of the concert went to K-mart on the off chance he was telling us the truth. The manager assured me there was no type of training going on that night. I asked if she would mind calling my home and leaving a message to that effect for my son. She did. Another son, Jesse was home from school that day and wrote down the message. When Eli got home, there was a message from K-mart, in Jesse’s handwriting, and caller ID even confirmed that K-mart had called. When I got home, I saw the note and said to Eli, “Oh good, you can come bowling with us after all!” I had planned an outing for the family so there was no chance of his sneaking out through the bedroom window. He had been hoodwinked. It was beautifully choreographed and I was the masterful artist of it all! Chalk one up for parents everywhere, right? But this was not all, there were still lessons to be learned…