Week Forty-three: Kathy Benson

What did you do growing up that got you into trouble?

Not much.

Seriously, I was pretty good kid, followed the rules at home and in school and rarely got in trouble.

When I was in high school I didn’t have a curfew. I did go out socially at night, but when I did, my parents and I had this deal we referred to as “good judgment.” I could use my good judgment to come home at what I considered to be a reasonable time and they were cool with that. I usually never came home much past 10:00 – 11:00 p.m. at night on a weekend or summer evening and I loved that I didn’t have a specific time that I had to be home, as many of my friends did.

Then one summer night I took advantage of our rule of “good judgment.” I was hanging out with older friends, who had late or no curfews and somehow we managed to entertain ourselves until well past midnight. It was before the days of cell phones or least it being common to have them. So you can imagine when I got home around 2:00 a.m. my parents were worried and upset.

I didn’t drink alcohol or use drugs when I was in high school, so it’s not like I was really doing anything I shouldn’t have been, except for being out too late. But in the end my parents decided as part of my punishment for not using good judgment that time, that I would have a curfew from then on. I understood back then that I had abused the privilege of not having a set curfew and thus I wasn’t surprised when they changed the rules about how late I could stay out when spending time with friends.

From what I hear my husband was also a well behaved child and adolescent who followed the rules at home and school to a tee. So whether any of this is hereditary I don’t really know, but I hope that our children will responsible and trustworthy when it comes to things like this in the years to come.

Our oldest child, our son, is only nine years old, so we still have some time before we will have to deal with issues such as curfew and rules for being out with friends sans adult supervision. But I know it won’t be that much longer before it will be a topic we need to address and it is something we need to start thinking about and preparing for.

I would love to believe that our son and thee year old daughter will continue be kids who practice good behavior and don’t get into a lot of trouble. But I do believe we learn from our mistakes and hope that if and when they find themselves in troublesome situations they will make the best of it, if needed express their remorse for not behaving as they should and try to follow the rules in the future. Time will tell and in the meantime, I can only hope and pray for the best and try to teach them well.

What did you do growing up that go you into trouble?

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Kathy Benson is a bereaved and blessed mom, writer and group fitness instructor trying to live mindfully and find joy in the journey after dealing with secondary infertility and loss for five years. She lives in Chicago, Illinois with her husband and two living children.

Kathy blogs at Bereaved and Blessed. You can also follow Kathy on Twitter @BereavedBlessed and her Facebook page.