anonymous / September 25, 2014
Last night, I picked up our 17 year old daughter Kate from high school and stopped at Safeway to pick up something for dinner. Kate wanted to wait in the car while I went in and I did the shopping. I suspect that since this Safeway was near her high school, she probably did not want to be seen with Dad shopping for dinner. I carefully explained that I was tired of making things for dinner that Kate and her sister Julia, would then not eat and then branched into “I am not short order cook” and on and on. I’m sure all you parents have had the same conversation. I then explained that I was not going to accept the Safeway mission on my own and I “encouraged” Kate to participate which she did with grunts and other signs of being annoyed to which I am pretty much immune.
Once in Safeway, she scattered while I aimlessly wandered through the vegetable section. We met up around the frozen pizza section. I was preparing my justification for why I would not get frozen pizza for dinner based on blah blah blah. I then noticed Kate had in her hand a bottle of shampoo, this I was not expecting. I was prepared for the frozen pizza theme but not the possibility of shampoo. I also confess, having done a night marathon the night before, I was tired, sore and maybe even slightly cranky.
I asked Kate what’s up with the shampoo and without a moment’s hesitation, she explained to me that her at home shampoo was not longer efficient. Kate probably used the word efficient because it is a word I like when describing endurance sports as in one has to be efficient in the expenditure of energy. Kate patiently explained to me that since her at home shampoo was no longer efficient because it remembered her hair and as a result she needed new shampoo. I was tempted to respond in a parent like manner with something along the lines of “you have got to be kidding me” or “oh please” or simply “no”.
Truth is, in my marathon induced alternative reality, I thought her explanation creative and charming. I mean she said it with such sincerity that all we could both do was laugh. So we laughed in the Frozen Foods section and I said “of course, lets get you new shampoo that your hair doesn’t remember”. It was one of those exchanges that as a parent I know I will always remember and smile at. As parents we tend to focus on the big things to remember but maybe we should also remember the flashes and specks of a lovely exchange with our kids.