Do not upset the Gorilla.......

The boy came out for some fresh air and unexpectedly received tuition in the fine art of fencing (Thanks to Boyzee’s Blip for the inspiration).

Having a teenager around the house has reminded me of his mum when she was 13 and all the hormones were churning. James has been a star, reacting well to the medication and doing his exercises. We have discussed his future, he won’t be applying to be a Referee, which is a pity, but it’s early days. Grandma has also talked to Grandpa and told him firmly to “backoff numb nuts!"

I returned from a pleasant sunny day amongst the clouds and rigs of Aberdeen to discover the Garden Fairy in tears. The brat was in her room also in tears. It seems that they had a verbal cat fight. 

I went upstairs to the room with the pounding bass rhythm, Banged on the door and gained entry, typical SWAT dad home from work with a sad on! Music off, youth standing wide-eyed, dad calmly looking things over…… 
“OK, take all these nice shiny electrical items down to the garage, TV, stereo, hairdryer, the lot, NOW! Then go into the box room, (it had a sofa and floor cushions where her friends would all gather safely), get the TV and stereo out of there and also put them in the garage.”
“But dad!!!!.”
“Now means now and no discussion.”
Fifteen minutes later there was a pile of goodies on my workbench with a nervous daughter looking on. Out came my wire cutters. I took all the plugs off with a quick cutting action, threw them in a corner and told her, “You can have these back when you have learned some basics about this house and family. I am in charge, your mum is also in charge, you are our baby and will be treated like a child until I decide otherwise.”
“Ohhh dad, noooooo.”
“Listen young lady…..I pay a lot of money each month to annoy your mum, you don’t!”

Minutes later the two of them were hugging each other, crying, wailing like wailing things at a wailing convention. Two weeks later I wandered into the very quiet brat’s room, handed her a screwdriver, wire strippers and about ten plugs. “Fix your kit, never annoy me or your mum again.”

Some life lessons are hard but that one saved us so much pain during the teen years. She’s bloody good with plugs now.