How to Be a Cool Parent.

It was Father’s Day in Folly Beach. The girls had been promising to buy me an “awesome” gift. But three days into the family vacation, we were hemorrhaging money like there was no tomorrow. What this dad needed was a cheapie gift.  Something in the $5.99 range.

Enter Mr. John’s Beach Store.

Hippyesque wristband.

Surprisingly, I was the one who found the leather bracelet with the faux Native American stone attached to it. I was off in a corner killing time because I knew the girls would be awhile.  As it happened, when I picked up the bracelet, my oldest daughter rounded the  corner and said, “Dad, that bracelet would look awesome on you.  Try it on!”

“Me?  You want me to try on this bracelet?”

So I did.

By this time, my wife had also shown up and agreed that the bracelet was “just what I needed.”   Knowing what a boring, straight-laced person I am, she said, “You can just wear it at the beach if you want to.   But I think you should get it, you know, for the girls.”  I agreed, but needed the opinion of one more girl.  The one who would “give it to me straight” without mincing words.

Claudia.  Age 13.

I found her on the T-shirt aisle.  She was eyeballing a tie-dye Folly Beach T-shirt with some cute phrase on it.  (I can’t remember what it said.)  I had a pretty good feeling I’d be buying that shirt before the Mr. John’s Beach Store party was over.   The least she could do was give me her honest opinion on the bracelet.

“Claudia, does this bracelet make me look cool?”

She looked down at my wrist, then looked back up at me.

“Yes, if I didn’t know who you were, I would say that bracelet is very cool.”

Pause.

“What if you did know me?  Would it still be cool?” I asked.

I could see a smile forming on her lips.

“Dad, I’m just saying that I do know you, and I happen to know you are not cool.  That’s all.”

I bought the bracelet anyway, and wore it throughout our vacation.  It’s been on my dresser ever since we’ve been back, but today I slipped it on for the fun of it.   If I forget to take  it off and you see me out somewhere wearing it, pretend you don’t know me.

You might think I’m cool.

Who's cool in this picture?

A quick note about the author: Tim Waller has lived in Greenville, South Carolina since 1994. He and his family love the Upstate area. This is a blog about their life.

Tags: children, Family, hippy, life, parenting