Damn Whipper-snappers

I remember when I was a teenager. Hasn't really been that long. Although to my kids, you'd think that even I am ancient. As a teenager, my parents really had two major rules. First and foremost, Don't lie. Second, be where you are supposed to be, when you are supposed to be there. Those were very simple rules, and yet, as a teenager, very hard to follow. Once you broke one rule, usually the latter, then you had to break the first rule. I often times wondered if my parents had some special powers. Was my dad really "superman?" My mom had to be wonder woman, with the invisible airplane.
No matter how good of a plot I had to escape being caught, it never worked. It seemed that my folks were always one step ahead of me. Perhaps that's why I still to this day, cannot beat my dad at a game of chess. He always knows what I'm going to do before I do it. As a teenager, the idea that you are not the first one to try that plan, doesn't come to play. To think that your parents were ever actually mischievous teenagers once too, whatever!
I had it worse than either of my siblings. I was the baby. They often thought that I was spoiled, and perhaps I was. I think my folks spoiled my as a child because they knew that when I grew up a little, I was screwed. By the time it was my turn to be a rebel teen, my older brother and sister had already tried everything in the book. I didn't stand a chance. My parents already knew the games I would try to play, and they already knew how to win.
So, it comes as no surprise, that my teenage daughter seems to be dumbfounded, when I catch her doing something wrong. I raise my kids under pretty much the same two rules. Now, as an adult, I understand how my folks were always able to catch me in the act. What my kids don't see, is the large network of close friends and acquaintances that inform me when my child is out of line. What my kids don't understand, is how I know all the right questions to ask, and how to make them "trip" over their own stories. No matter how well rehearsed, I can make my daughter falter. I was a teenager once too!
And so without further addue , Mom, Dad, thanks for being good parents! You were right, I was wrong. I've learned my lesson, and yes, my kids did turn out just like me!