We covered it all for his first date, from cleanliness, to manners, to paying for the tickets. He bought a new shirt and given his bouncy, happy demeanor all day, I could tell he was not only looking forward to his first date but he likes her. I’m pretty sure, he really likes her. I’ll admit, I think I was more nervous about “the date” than he was. Our pre-date conversation was pretty typical:
Me: “Do you have enough money for the tickets?”
Son: “Yes”
Me: “Did you brush your teeth, and put on extra deodorant?”
Son: “Yes, but I skipped the cologne, it really smells.”
Me: “Remember to shake her father’s hand when you go to the door.”
Me: “And, hold the door for her when you get to the movies.”
Son: “Okay, okay, I know, already.”
Me: “Text her and tell her we will pick her up by 6:30 pm.”
Here is where the date gets a little tricky and memorable. The girl lives up a fairly steep hill and we have had record-breaking snow falls this winter in New England. The driveway was dicey at best. You know those moments where you see a disaster pending and yet you fail to stop what you are doing. I knew that I was not going fast enough, the driveway was too steep, and there was clearly too much snow.
Yet, I plowed up the driveway with my non-four-wheel-drive minivan and within a nanosecond of telling myself that this was a bad idea, I started to slide.
Brake. Accelerate. Brake. Spin. Engine Rev. Engine Rev. Slide. Spin steering wheel. Slide. Thump into snowbank. Slide. Thump into second snowbank. And, we are stuck, horizontally between two snow banks across the driveway.
While my son will never forget feeling mortified that his mother got the car stuck in his girlfriend’s driveway on their first date, I will never forget the conversation and more importantly the laughter that followed our now ridiculous predicament.
Son: “Do I have to knock on the door and tell her father we are stuck?”
Me: “Yes”
Son: “Are you sure we are stuck?” We exit the car to assess the situation again…
Me: “Oh, we are most definitely stuck!”
Son: “Wait, get back in the car, so we can finish laughing first!”
I love this kid. I hope he never forgets his first date, but more importantly, I hope he never forgets when to laugh.