Power Struggles

So, my son is of the age where going to the roller skating rink every Friday night, is the thing to do. He starts his campaigning on about Wednesdays hoping that I'll be sick enough of his carrying on to be willing to rid myself of his chatter for a couple hours come Friday. Unfortunately, he is also under the microscope for behavior and school work. If those two things aren't in alignment with what we are expecting, then no roller skating for our boy child.

This week, in particular, I was not inclined to send him as his math had been suffering, but one of my twins was willing to pony up the funds for him to go if he was willing to clean areas of her choosing. This created quite a power/money struggle with these two yesterday. My daughter was able to lord over her older brother with the proverbial waving of the money in his face, while he was trying to be philosophical about when he would do the designated work, and how long it would take him. It was actually very interesting to witness. With children, situations like these are so pure. They have yet to develop the intellect to muddy the waters. I was able to watch human interaction at its finest. In the end, my son managed to get the cleaning done when my daughter asked him to, and apparently to her satisfaction, as my boy child did, in fact, go skating last night.


Has anyone over the age of 35 been in a skating rink on a Friday night when it's packed with teens? I cannot accurately describe the smell. I liken it to a combination of hormones, body odor, and mystery. When I pick my son up, I always say when he gets in the car that he smells like people. As an adult who has done her share of club hopping, I liked coming home and washing the smell of cigarettes and whatever else was lingering in the air at the club. It's that type of thing, but on a teenage level. The air at the roller skating rink is so rife with pheromones that it's palpable.