I got the messages at my office a couple hours after they were left that Friday afternoon. From what sounded like the pay phone at school, my teenage daughter, Carol, asked, "Mom, can I go with Holly to the mall?" Then a second message from home. "Well, I couldn't get through to you, so I didn't go."
Our family had a standing rule that the kids couldn't go anywhere without clearing it with Mom first. But now, Carol had missed out on something she would've enjoyed just because she couldn't get through to me in time. Maybe it was time to take stock.
In our single-parent family, my word was law—and I don't like surprises. So whenever my daughter or her younger brother wanted to do something, they had to run it by me. I didn't want them in cars with drivers I didn't know. I didn't want them going to websites I wasn't familiar with. I didn't want them reading books, watching movies, channel surfing, doing anything, really, unless I'd been there first and vetted it.
