Sunday, July 5, 2009

And then I become one of those white-trash parents...

Growing up we had a white suburban. This wasn't your usual white car...it had smatterings of rust throughout the entire thing that made it look like an object of target practice for a regime of machine guns. I was embarrassed beyond beyond belief to be seen in that thing. It became almost a joke in my family. I recall a specific time when my dad was in charge of some sort of car pool. I was waiting in the rust speckled vehicle when to my dismay, my dad walked out wearing his billy-bob teeth and a cowboy hat. "Perfect" I thought..."this is social suicide". I think I actually shed a few tears as we pulled out of the driveway, and my dad had a huge, rotten grin on his face. "We are SO white-trash" was the last thought I had as we left the drive way.
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Am I proud of my snobbery and immaturity? Of course not, but a teenager can't help but be stupid...it's their nature.
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I promised myself that I would never be the kind of parent that embarrasses their kid (and I have to say, I am pretty sure my parents kept that BEAST of a car around just to teach me a lesson in humility). And I also promised myself I would never be one of those people that others look at and think "man, that is a white-trash family".
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Then one day, it happened.
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Jack's jammies all of the sudden were too small. Like, so small that he walked around like a little stick figure because he couldn't bend his legs. I was determined however, to get just a few more days out of them. He awoke sobbing one night and my mom said "Jill, look at his poor jammies, no wonder the kid is crying."
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So what does a mother do? go buy new PJ's at 11:00 at night?
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Nope.
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You just do the white-trashy thing and cut the feet off.
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We all laughed and laughed at jack's expense, the little guy was so sad to be the brunt of a joke.
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And so it begins...I have dipped my feet into the waters of white-trash and being THAT embarrasing parent.
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Heaven help my children.



*****please note that although Ithought we couldn't be more white-trash as a teenager, we really weren't. My mom is s very classy lady, and my dad is really one of the most kind, considerate men alive. They were just having a little fun with their ungrateful daughter!!

8 comments:

Amber said...

My mother in law regularly cut the feet out of her kids jammies. She always tried to convince me to do the same.... I never folded! You crack me up Jill...

Marianne said...

oh yeah, the juice must be kool aid.

Ben and Kelli said...

I remember that suburban, you were so humiliated by it!! I have to agree I think your parents kept it just for you! Little Jack just looks so stinkin cute!

Jessie said...

Oh goodness Jill, I am dying right now!!!

You crack me up!

And poor little Jack, couldn't even straighten out his legs.....I AM ROLLING!

Cindy said...

I guess you could say our self esteem was never tied to our cars! I'm sorry Jill but the 'rusty suburban' did provide us with a few laughs--at your expense. Have you forgiven us yet???
I do miss Jack and his WT Jammies. What a cutie!

Travis and Celena said...

I don't see anything wrong with cutting the feet out of PJs? That's what my mom did when I was a kid. If it works, it works.

Amy said...

Okay, just so you know, I have done that to SEVERAL pair of jammies, so I'm right there with ya! I think it's great and yes your parents are the best, classy yet cool. Sure do love them!

Grandma Scott said...

Whoever was dumb enough to put feet in jammies anyway..... There was a time when I actually cut them out of necessity.... No money !!
It's still fun to laugh about it..
Everything sounds like fun and love at your house.