I refer to “The Great Barrier” as the line that separates us from our parents. Don’t get me wrong, my parents are great, and I do have a great relationship with them. Believe it or not, they do live in the twenty-first century... most of the time. However, there is a thick, invisible line that separates most parents from their teens. I also refer to it as, “The Big Lie.” It’s not a lie that kids tell their parents, but rather a lie that parents tell themselves. Denial is the ultimate self-deceit. Parents seem to think that it’s always someone else’s teen that causes the trouble when their…..perfect child…..cough… cough… would never do such a thing.
To give you a somewhat twisted take on this observation, I offer you my own family as an example. I have two stepbrothers who I refer to as tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum. They both live with their mother in another state which I will not mention. My older brother, Tweedle-dee is now fifteen and has always been considered the, “troublemaker” of the family. He has a history of lying, cheating and manipulating to get what he wants while my younger brother, Tweedle-dum has always been known as, “the perfect child.”
This is where the story gets interesting. A few weeks ago, Tweedle-dee (aka Big Bro) got into a bit of trouble when it was assumed that he had purchased a two-hour porn flick, charged it to his mother’s credit card and stored it in the, “my videos’ section on his computer. Now, I know my big brother pretty well, and I know him well enough to know that if he did purchase the flick: first, he would not have been stupid enough to purchase it with his mom’s credit card and second, he certainly would not have stored it in such an obvious place. So I’m thinking, “What the heck!” There must be a lot more to this story and indeed it was.
When the true story was finally revealed, I was a bit shocked to find out what had really happened. Not only was tweedle-dee innocent of this heinous crime but now he is using it as blackmail against tweedle-dum. Poor Baby Bro….How could this be? His mother would never believe that her perfect son would commit such an act. I guess that also means that she doesn’t know why her lotion products are depleting while he is spending a lot of extra time in the bathroom.
I guess somehow there is a lesson to be learned in all of this. First, if you are a parent remember that the obvious is not always true and things are not always as they appear. Second, don’t ever let your big brother take the rap for you – you’ll spend a lifetime paying for it. Lastly, if you’re like my older brother you need to reanalyze your past behavior – there’s a reason why you got blamed for it in the first place.
To give you a somewhat twisted take on this observation, I offer you my own family as an example. I have two stepbrothers who I refer to as tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum. They both live with their mother in another state which I will not mention. My older brother, Tweedle-dee is now fifteen and has always been considered the, “troublemaker” of the family. He has a history of lying, cheating and manipulating to get what he wants while my younger brother, Tweedle-dum has always been known as, “the perfect child.”
This is where the story gets interesting. A few weeks ago, Tweedle-dee (aka Big Bro) got into a bit of trouble when it was assumed that he had purchased a two-hour porn flick, charged it to his mother’s credit card and stored it in the, “my videos’ section on his computer. Now, I know my big brother pretty well, and I know him well enough to know that if he did purchase the flick: first, he would not have been stupid enough to purchase it with his mom’s credit card and second, he certainly would not have stored it in such an obvious place. So I’m thinking, “What the heck!” There must be a lot more to this story and indeed it was.
When the true story was finally revealed, I was a bit shocked to find out what had really happened. Not only was tweedle-dee innocent of this heinous crime but now he is using it as blackmail against tweedle-dum. Poor Baby Bro….How could this be? His mother would never believe that her perfect son would commit such an act. I guess that also means that she doesn’t know why her lotion products are depleting while he is spending a lot of extra time in the bathroom.
I guess somehow there is a lesson to be learned in all of this. First, if you are a parent remember that the obvious is not always true and things are not always as they appear. Second, don’t ever let your big brother take the rap for you – you’ll spend a lifetime paying for it. Lastly, if you’re like my older brother you need to reanalyze your past behavior – there’s a reason why you got blamed for it in the first place.
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