Oh, I love him… but sometimes I also want to strangle him. Yesterday was one of those days.
At 8:15am my phone rings. It’s Andrew’s school. My heart dropped. It’s never good when the school calls right after classes start. It was the assistant principal, Mrs. Almond, informing me that Andrew was in her office—with a police officer—being held for reckless driving, reckless endangerment, and stealing a car. She demanded I come pick up my child.
I’m in total shock, so I ask to speak to Andrew. I hit him with, “WHAT THE HECK?!??!!” and he calmly says, “There’s no good reason.”
…Fantastic. Fabulous. Love that for us.
So I took my sweet time getting dressed and let him sweat for a bit, marinate in his poor choices.
When I arrived, I saw Andrew and two of his friends sitting in the “naughty seats,” waiting for judgment. To his credit, Andrew immediately apologized and gave me the low-down. The very first thing he asked was that I please not bring up “the last incident” (which apparently wasn’t documented, so not on his record). I told him—no promises.
We were taken into the security office to meet with the head of security, the AP, and the police officer. They showed me the “shocking” video evidence: Andrew getting into a friend’s truck, driving it maybe 30 feet (never going more than 4 mph), while his friends hopped in and out of the truck bed and hung off the sides. The whole thing lasted less than two minutes.
Look. Was it smart? No.
Was it the Grand Theft Auto: School Parking Lot they made it sound like? Also no.
Honestly? It wasn’t great, but it also wasn’t even close to what I imagined when the words “reckless endangerment” were used. But the way the school officials talked, you’d think these kids did donuts in the parking lot (well, that did happen last time) and then robbed a bank on the way out (that DIDN'T happen last time). The cop was actually very kind—he said he wasn’t going to ticket Andrew, though he technically could, and a different officer might have escalated it. The AP said something similar: Andrew is a good kid, good grades, hard classes, no priors—so she wasn’t taking disciplinary action—but his home school could still suspend him for 3–5 days if they chose to.
She also had him hand over his keys and arranged for him to take the bus for the foreseeable future. I think this was the worst part for Andrew.
I walked out of there thinking, “Seriously? I got called into the office for this?” But Andrew was respectful and apologetic, so at least there was that. Still—I could not believe he’d be dumb enough to pull this stunt at school of all places, where cameras are everywhere and the parking lot is basically under constant surveillance.
Fast-forward to after school: I had to drive him back to pick up his car so he could get to swim practice. I told him he was grounded from driving… but I was tired. My mood was already not great. I dropped him off, told him I loved him, wished him a great practice, and—for once—drove off without waiting for him to start his car.
Of course, this is the time his car doesn’t start. He calls me 10 seconds later: “My battery’s dead.”
I hadn’t even left the parking lot, so I turned right back around. Neither of us had jumper cables, so we were stuck. (Not that we don't own 10 jumper cables and a battery pack starter - but were those in the cars? NO! Why? ANDREW!) Then he looks at me and says, “Well… I think I can bump-start it.”
Um, what?
I’m irritated, exhausted, and fully convinced this isn’t going to work. But sure. Why not. He tells me to get in the driver’s seat, hold the clutch until he says to release it, and he’ll push the car.
I’m completely doubtful, but do it anyway.
And then—shock of all shocks—it works. The engine fires up, and I just sat there like… what?! I jump out of the running car and give him the biggest hug, completely forgetting how mad and frustrated I was. I’m just standing there, so proud and impressed with this genius of a kid who somehow seems to know how to do everything.
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