No wait! I didn’t really mean that!

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Tight Corner.”

It’s a tight corner you paint yourself into when you say you’ll pay for something your kid really wants.  And if you have three kids, the corner just gets tighter.  And if you have three teens, forget it–you may as well take up deep sea diving without air because that’s how tight it can feel at times.

You say “sure” to the t-shirt they need for their team sport, and “sure” to the one that parents can get to support their teen.  That’s great.  But then the other teens hear that you said yes to this, and they have team sports and activities too, and if it’s yes to one–then it follows it will be yes to all.  Before you know it, you have to decide.  Will it be a drawer full of t-shirts of slight variation in the same mascot theme, or will there be permanent scarring and lingering feelings of remorse because the “f” word creeps into conversation–Favorite, silly.  Not that other f-word.

And that’s only with the teens.  If you say yes, you still have to answer to your husband or wife, who didn’t get hit up for the t-shirt (s) and had other plans, like making a car payment or taking you out to dinner, or paying that speeding ticket you got when you were racing to the latest sports event wearing your mascot-inspired t-shirt to “show support,” a.k.a. socialize with the other parents in the same boat.

The simple word yes will usually result in a tight corner.  Better to just say no.