Why is it that boys when they’re away on holiday have this ability to assume that you have nothing better to do than sort out their life in their absence?
My son is currently inter-railing with his girlfriend and having a lovely time – I know this only because I am “stalking” him on Facebook – “stalking” being the words the kids use if they think you are actually looking at their Facebook page. Chilling and strolling and eating and drinking whilst I am busy trying very hard not to get heat exhaustion on the trains and tubes on my way to work and back.
He’s off to a festival this weekend and a friend of his is driving his car there to meet him. I was quite impressed that they’d even managed to formulate a plan of this magnitude, but forgot that inevitably they would have missed out a few things…
First from work I get a text asking if I could urgently send a photocopy of his passport or driving licence to a friend who needs to prove that the ticket she bought off him is his. No idea what he’s talking about and strangely I don’t carry photocopies of my children’s passports about my person at all times and no I can’t leave the office to go home and sort it.
Next series of texts went like this:–
“Dad is coming to have a look at my car this weekend before J drives it away. If he doesn’t come can u pls take it to Texaco and check tyres and put more washer fluid in and petrol maybe? Just cos J won’t really know what he’s doing. thanks mum ur the best! also dad wanted to sort some triangles for the back and stickers or something that u need abroad. Do u know what he’s talking about?”
Um. Nope. I don’t. I told him I don’t know how to do any of that car stuff and I don’t know about black triangles and I don’t know how to pump up tyres or put more washer fluid in. I am a pathetic girl who barely functions as a single parent on issues of light bulbs, cars, gardens, the dump, packing the car or re-wiring the house. Sorry about that. I should probably pleased that he thinks I might be capable of such things….although I suspect that it’s the “petrol” fill-up that would be the most important issue here and I should probably go and make sure that I can indeed do things like that but frankly life is too short and I always hated those jobs anyway.
His next text was:-
“U don’t know how to put washer fluid in?”
His next text will probably be “can u see if u can find a mechanics course of something to do by Tuesday then?”
