My best friend, Yvette, and I were sitting at my kitchen table a few nights ago drinking a glass of wine and catching up on stuff when her daughter, Vanessa, walked in from watching tv in another room. She sat down at the table and Yvette laserbeamed on her and said, "Tell Patricia about the boy at school that you like." Vanessa is a sophmore in high school and as cute as bug in a rug. She is an A student, a cheerleader, a swimmer, a good kid. She blushed and told me that the boy in question is a senior, a swimmer, and is going to go off to Brown in the fall. To become a doctor. Sounds like a dangerous character, right?
Vanessa told me all that, Yvette let her finish and then said, "Yeah, but he wants to take her out. On. A. Date.", and she stared at me across the kitchen table like I was supposed to say something like, No way young lady! So I turned to Vanessa and said, "Is he cute? Where are ya'll going? Is he going to take you to prom?"
I thought Yvette was going to fall out of her chair she was so shocked! She started wagging her finger at both of us, saying that Vanessa was too young to date and this boy was a senior and had I lost my mind? I just said, calm down Carmen and put that finger back where it belongs! Carmen is Yvette's mother and believe me, when we were in high school and I was the evil influence on Yvette, I saw Carmen's finger wag at me many, many a time! We all laughed until I suddenly realized that Yvette and I were our moms! We were the ones sitting around the kitchen table worrying about our kids and their choices, wondering where in the hell did they get their fashion sense, taste in music, and what is the deal with that hair? I gotta tell you, I raised boys, and this whole worrying about daughters and their crushes is brand new to me. It was kind of cool, however, that Vanessa seemed to think that it was cool that I was asking questions about "the boy" instead of freaking out like her mother.
Vanessa talked with us a little while longer and then went off to text endlessly with her friends about "the boy" and Yvette and I sat for a while drinking our wine. She looked at me and I looked at her and we both shook our heads and laughed. "Oh my God, I'm Carmen," she said as she finished her drink. I nodded and said, "Yup, and I'm your cool friend who gets to talk about boys and stuff with your daughter!" As they left, Yvette hugged me and said, "Just don't show her how to sneak boys into my house the way you showed me!"