A collosal No-No

Good Time Charlie is a blog reader in my ward. I love her. She is tall and thin and wears the best clothes. And her shoes....LOVE her shoes. She eats figs, I don't know if that's good or bad, it's just a little fact about her. She is well read, well spoken, and has struggled through some major things in her life. Her kids are adorable and always look so stinkin' cute and her husband is one of my favorite people in our ward. I love Charlie and that's why it makes me so sad that I have to be mad at her.

Good time Charlie gave a talk in our ward on Sunday. It was a well researched and well thought out talk except for one little detail. Unfortunately this little snippet in an otherwise lovely and spiritual talk was THE ONE time my 14 year old EVER listened to a talk in church. When he heard this gem come out of Sis. Charlie's mouth he sat up like a Meerkat in the Serengetti. He was all ears, awake and alert. (a minor modern day miracle!) Unfortunately it wasn't the 'children, obey your parents and be kind and sweet every minute of every day' part of the talk. It was...it was...its was...."Parents are not perfect...parents can apologize."

Out of a 15 minute talk, this is what he heard....

.......blahblahlbablebalablaneblahblahparentsarenotperfectparentscanapologizeblahblahbalhlbal

blbalblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahbalhbalhblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah

Now Charlie...we all KNOW this to be true, but to say it publicly, out there for the world to hear in front of "the enemy" is just wrong. It should be whispered under the covers quietly, it should be discussed in private among friends, BUT never, ever, ever in front of the children. This way, when you ARE wrong, and DO need to apologize and therefore DO so...it takes them completely by surprise and catches them off guard. They aren't expecting it and it means more.

I realize that you are the mother of still young children and have not experienced the dog-days of teenagers. If you had of, you would realize that you never, ever, ever give them ammunition to use against you. You'll be happy to know that said 14 year old has left the quote on our whiteboard in the kitchen for the whole world to see and to remind us, his parents, of our foibles and shortcomings.

You'll be happy to know also that the 14 year old's father left his OWN message on the white board beneath your quote.

He just wants to make sure the chain of command is clear around here.

Disclaimer: the above post was said with tongue firmly planted in cheek and with enormous love for my sweet friend, Good Time Charlie.
The 14 year old? Not so much, but he's 14 and someday we will like him again. jk.