Butch Keeps the Girls

Last week, while I was at the farm crop, Steph was out-of-town on business. Butch was in charge of the girls and their crazy, busy schedules. There's always a lot going on with them, but Steph had sent him a nearly hour by hour schedule. All was going pretty smoothly---the cooking, getting the girls to and from school and activities. On Wednesday, Butch told me that Jordan had "pulled a fast one" on him. She had asked if he could pick her up from the Father Ryan soccer game on Tuesday night at 8:30. She was getting a ride there with a friend. He said yes, because Father Ryan isn't too far from our house. When he arrived to pick her up, she had her friend Katie along. Being the smart guy that he is, he quickly realized that he was also taking Katie home. When he asked where she lived, it turned out to be all the way across town. By the time he got home it was 9:45---an hour and a half ordeal. I told him that it wasn't that Jordan "pulled a quick one", but that due to his inexperience with dealing with teenagers, he didn't ask the right questions. Everyone knows that if one parent "takes", it's a trade off---that means you are doing the "pick up".

Then, on Thursday morning, Jordan needed a lunch for her senior and nothing in our house was deemed appropriate. Of course, he was "wigged" that she waited until the last minute to tell him (again, another typical teenager move). She wanted Butch to deliver something at noon. He was going fishing, so he told her he simply couldn't do it. She then suggested that he order them a pizza. So, he gave her money to pay for the pizza. Later, she texted him to remind him. He said that it was really weird to be receiving text messages and ordering Dominoes pizza while fishing from the middle of the lake. Sort of polluted the calm, serene, get away from it all experience. I welcomed him to my world and said he got a taste of what he'd missed all these years by sitting in his "cush" office.