Rose proudly told me she kissed her "boyfriend" at taekwondoe. I suddenly and unexpectedly turned into my mom and said, "You are 10. You are not allowed to kiss boys. You need to be respectable." Even reading the word respectable in that context freaks me out. I don't know that I even believe that. It had just been so ingrained in my psyche throughout puberty and teenage years that poof, it just slipped out at the mention of a kiss.
Knowing I was irritated, though, Rose said, "it wasn't even a real kiss, Mom, just an air kiss." At that point I wasn't sure if I believed her. Then I didn't leave her side at taekwondoe--even when she went down to the stretching area where parents typically don't go.
I felt out of place in the stretching are--the lone adult being eyed suspiciously by the children. She hissed at me "this is embarrassing." I couldn't agree more. It was awkward for me, too, and "boyfriend" wasn't even there, but I stuck it out. I was sending a message. I swear. Or really, I was in no mom's land unsure of what to do. I needed a drink.
In fact, as I nurse a beer now, I wonder, am I over reacting? It was just a kiss, maybe even something as harmless as an air kiss. Yet, setting our boundaries seems important. I just need to find middle ground between my response and my mom's response.
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