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  #51  
Old 09-12-2012, 11:23 AM
Foxy40 Foxy40 is offline
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I wasnt' a very popular kid in 6th grade but was so happy when my parents told me I could have a graduation party from elementary school and every kid was going to attend. The day before the party, I tore a tee shirt when it got caught on a fence that probably cost my mother five dollars. She made me call every child and cancel the party. As an adult, I recognize how truly cruel that was for her to do over an accident.
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  #52  
Old 09-12-2012, 12:39 PM
Mona Lisa Simpson Mona Lisa Simpson is offline
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Originally Posted by Gesturing Mildly View Post
I hated dolls, but BEGGED for one of these when I was a kid. I think my parents were glad to learn I was actually a girl-child. I only wanted it so I could make it do tricks, like some sort of freakish humanoid puppy. I didn't get that "alive" in this context only meant having a tube connecting your mouth and a hole in your butt.

I think I played with it once.

You are the third person beside myself who was not into dolls and wanted a Baby Alive, and years later speaks of the experience bitterly. I am wondering if there is some kind of correlation.
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  #53  
Old 09-12-2012, 01:24 PM
Bam Boo Gut Bam Boo Gut is offline
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I won second prize in a colouring competition and received some dried out felt pens.

I always hoped to be so desperate for R White's lemonade that I would wake up in the night to drink it but I never did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqBa7eay6Fo
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  #54  
Old 09-12-2012, 01:43 PM
bartleby bartleby is offline
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Originally Posted by Alice The Goon View Post
I don't remember the brand- Fisher Price, maybe?- record players for kids. My brother and I were so excited when we got one, and it never ever worked. We would have 2 or 3 of them as kids, and none of them ever worked. How disappointing.
just found this on MAKE.

kinda cool...
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  #55  
Old 09-12-2012, 03:17 PM
Sister Vigilante Sister Vigilante is offline
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Originally Posted by control-z View Post
How does a Light Bright not work? All it needs is a light bulb and the colored pegs.
Mine must have been defective. Most of the pegs didn't fit in the holes, and if they did, the paper never aligned right so half the pegs ended up in the wrong holes.

And it was not operator error, damnit.
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  #56  
Old 09-12-2012, 05:03 PM
Algher Algher is offline
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Cruise Control didn't drive the car. Only now are we getting there.
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  #57  
Old 09-12-2012, 05:27 PM
OpusThePenguin OpusThePenguin is offline
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X-ray glasses. Seeing how I got money from a paper route where I woke up at 4 am in the morning, it was a very very bitter disappointment.
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  #58  
Old 09-12-2012, 05:30 PM
shemarstan shemarstan is offline
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Monkey disappointment

11 years old. Wanted a monkey for Christmas. Was so sure I was going to get a monkey for Christmas I could hardly contain myself with the excitement.

Christmas morning I got a monkey charm.....you know for those charm bracelets everyone had in the 60 and 70's. I was really upset and mad...it ruined my Christmas.
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  #59  
Old 09-12-2012, 05:37 PM
Docta G Docta G is offline
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When I was a child I concluded that adults are full of shit. That was, you know, disappointing.
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  #60  
Old 09-12-2012, 06:09 PM
salinqmind salinqmind is online now
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Originally Posted by shemarstan View Post
11 years old. Wanted a monkey for Christmas. Was so sure I was going to get a monkey for Christmas I could hardly contain myself with the excitement.

Christmas morning I got a monkey charm.....you know for those charm bracelets everyone had in the 60 and 70's. I was really upset and mad...it ruined my Christmas.
I wanted a pet raccoon. I would have accepted one on Christmas or my birthday, either day. My pleas for a pet raccoon fell on deaf ears. A lot of my pleas fell on deaf ears, so I wasn't actually *that* disappointed. (dang. I was gonna call him 'Bandit'.)

oh hell, while I'm here....I read a lot as a child from an early age. Kids books, of course, kids having all kinds of adventures. Solving mysteries. Saddling up and riding their horses all summer, entering contests, sneaking out at night with their friends, investigating the Old Johnson House at midnight, staying up late! I knew fantasy from reality, of course, never expected to be whisked off to A Better World, but dammit, how come MY life wasn't as interesting and exciting as the characters in all those kids books???

Last edited by salinqmind; 09-12-2012 at 06:12 PM.
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  #61  
Old 09-12-2012, 07:34 PM
Susie Derkins Susie Derkins is offline
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I was into dolls when I was little, and I also got the Baby Alive doll...but no batteries. And my mom explained that the stores were closed. While my parents were taking a nap I went around robbing every electronic in the house of its batteries, but none were the right size. AND I was so sure that they would work anyway that I had premade some of the food goop. I ended up eating it myself. Urp.

Last edited by Susie Derkins; 09-12-2012 at 07:34 PM.
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  #62  
Old 09-12-2012, 11:17 PM
Incubus Incubus is online now
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I was disappointed to discover Electric Football was just a vibrating board with players skittering around like ants. As a kid, I imagined the players were tiny robots, drawing power from an electrified playing field.
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  #63  
Old 09-13-2012, 12:18 AM
Mona Lisa Simpson Mona Lisa Simpson is offline
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Ooooo ! OOOO! More disappointing than Baby Alive, and completely no one's fault either except my rather tiny survey sample size was:

My baby brother.

We were getting a baby in our house, I was not quite 4 and a half. I wanted a brother. I wanted a brother in the fierce way a girl who loves her Daddy wants what Daddy wants. I wasn't a particularly girly-girl, but Daddy was hoping for a boy and so was I. Plus the idea of a sister... sounded... not fair to me. Three girls against Daddy. Or something.

But I knew one thing. Boys are older than girls. Dad was older than Mom, my two boy cousins were older than their sisters, the neighbour had older sons and younger daughters. So I was going to have a brother and he was going to be ten years old. Sure, there was talk about "baby" brother, but surely he would be older than me... sometime... eventually?

Uh, no. He was born 4 and a half years younger than me, and oddly enough he still is. And boy did I dislike him intensely when he did in fact, become 10 years old. I walked to the mall in January, in Northern Ontario just to avoid his birthday party. I still remember the records I bought that day, one of them cracked from the cold when I walked home.
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  #64  
Old 09-13-2012, 07:25 AM
Lumpy Lumpy is offline
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Originally Posted by Foxy40 View Post
I wasnt' a very popular kid in 6th grade but was so happy when my parents told me I could have a graduation party from elementary school and every kid was going to attend. The day before the party, I tore a tee shirt when it got caught on a fence that probably cost my mother five dollars. She made me call every child and cancel the party. As an adult, I recognize how truly cruel that was for her to do over an accident.
"You were careless!! You think we're made out of money?!?"

(Sorry, EXTREME j.k. I have childhood issues)
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  #65  
Old 09-13-2012, 07:40 AM
Scribble Scribble is online now
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I was deeply disappointed to find that, if you jump off the roof with an open umbrella, you do not, in fact, fly like Mary Poppins, no matter how hard you wish or how many times you say "supercallifragilisticespialidocious" very, very fast.

I was born at 6:41 am. But, somehow, if I looked in the mirror on my birthday at 6:41 am, I never looked or felt any different from the way I did any other morning. That was a serious let-down.

I didn't look or feel any different on my first double-digit birthday, either.

I knew the tooth fairy gave me a dollar every time I left a baby tooth under my pillow. Since I wanted a little extra money, I broke a small tusk off a decorative elephant thing I had and left it under my pillow. Oddly enough, the tooth fairy didn't go for that.

Last edited by Scribble; 09-13-2012 at 07:40 AM.
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  #66  
Old 09-13-2012, 08:29 AM
Nava Nava is offline
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When I came back from the US, I brought several stuffed dolls (a Pillsbury Doughboy and two teddies, all presents from friends). My mother said "oh, I had no idea you liked stuffed dolls! You never asked for a doll!"

" What, that several-hours-refusing-to-move scene outside a toy store because I wanted THAT Nancy* doesn't count as asking for a doll? I played with that Petipeke that cousin Brutus broke before I'd even had time to take it off the box until it fell apart, and as for stuffed dolls, I never asked for any because I knew I wouldn't get any."

"Oh!"

"C'mon, would you have bought me a teddy if I'd asked for one?"

"No."

"I rest my case."

* I had a black-haired Nancy which got destroyed by a friend. It was replaced by a blonde Nancy with a very hard torso, which I didn't like. Then I saw a "Japanese Nancy" in a store window and, well, I do think that one would hold the record for "biggest tantrum of my life", only rather than making lots of noise I grabbed an I-beam and refused to move until I got That Nancy; Mom eventually gave up when the storekeeper came back after lunch break (she thought I might be able to hold until mid-afternoon snack time). It's OK if you're 4 at the time, right?
Oh, and I don't have the kimono any more, but I do have the Nancy.

Last edited by Nava; 09-13-2012 at 08:32 AM.
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  #67  
Old 09-13-2012, 08:43 AM
Foxy40 Foxy40 is offline
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Originally Posted by Lumpy View Post
"You were careless!! You think we're made out of money?!?"

(Sorry, EXTREME j.k. I have childhood issues)
Mom? That you?
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  #68  
Old 09-13-2012, 08:51 AM
shemarstan shemarstan is offline
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[quote=salinqmind;15485245]I wanted a pet raccoon. I would have accepted one on Christmas or my birthday, either day. My pleas for a pet raccoon fell on deaf ears. A lot of my pleas fell on deaf ears, so I wasn't actually *that* disappointed. (dang. I was gonna call him 'Bandit'.)

QUOTE]

Well I did have a pet raccoon as a child (which was why I was sure the Monkey was a sure thing). You really didn't miss out. He was a nasty bugger. He would hide under the couch and when you sat down he would attack your ankles. He would not keep out of the garbage. And my Mom's cigarette butts were constantly being "cleaned" in his water bowl. Definitely a wild animal, even though we had him since he was a wee kit.
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  #69  
Old 09-13-2012, 09:17 AM
control-z control-z is offline
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Originally Posted by Foxy40 View Post
I wasnt' a very popular kid in 6th grade but was so happy when my parents told me I could have a graduation party from elementary school and every kid was going to attend. The day before the party, I tore a tee shirt when it got caught on a fence that probably cost my mother five dollars. She made me call every child and cancel the party. As an adult, I recognize how truly cruel that was for her to do over an accident.
That's horrible.
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  #70  
Old 09-13-2012, 09:50 AM
Count Blucher Count Blucher is offline
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Jim Bowie tamed the west with a knife 1 & 1/2 inches long? I don't think so. That slingshot from DC Comics back pages was utter crap too (thank goodness for LL Bean).
And that 5000 point camera? It was plastic! I choked down enough Bazooka Joe to spackle 10 neighborhoods of new construction housing for that thing, and its plastic?

You miserable bastids.
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  #71  
Old 09-13-2012, 10:09 AM
TruCelt TruCelt is offline
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I went to a symphony and there was a harp solo in one of the songs. I thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard, and I wanted to learn the harp in the worst way.

Knowing that Christmas was coming, I let me Dad know what I wanted. My Mom, seeing that he was takign this seriously, began campaigning for a piano instead. It was something the whole family could use, my brother could take lessons too, blah blah blah.

Eventually my Mom got my brother on the bandwagon, which I knew was the death of my wish, as they never denied him anything. My Dad, caught in the middle of all this, and unable to afford both, told me that my hands really weren't big enough to learn the harp yet. He said if could start out learning the piano, and if I would practice really hard, and show that I was serious, he would get me a harp in a couple of years.

I worked very hard and got pretty good, and really enjoyed playing; but a part of me is still waiting for my harp.

Last edited by TruCelt; 09-13-2012 at 10:11 AM.
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  #72  
Old 09-14-2012, 02:45 PM
ducati ducati is offline
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Originally Posted by TruCelt View Post
I worked very hard and got pretty good, and really enjoyed playing; but a part of me is still waiting for my harp.
I could blow you up with a pie or something. Then you go straight to heaven and get a harp.

That's how it works in cartoons, anyway.
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  #73  
Old 09-14-2012, 03:23 PM
Rachellelogram Rachellelogram is offline
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Originally Posted by TruCelt View Post
I worked very hard and got pretty good, and really enjoyed playing; but a part of me is still waiting for my harp.
That's so sad. But you can buy one now, right!?
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  #74  
Old 09-14-2012, 04:26 PM
TruCelt TruCelt is offline
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Originally Posted by Rachellelogram View Post
That's so sad. But you can buy one now, right!?
I probably will someday, but not this year, and next year ain't lookin so good. ;-)
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  #75  
Old 09-14-2012, 06:39 PM
Cheez_Whia Cheez_Whia is offline
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In kindergarten, I learned that on the day before or Friday before a holiday, we had a "class party" where almost everyone's mom would send yummy things like cookies and cupcakes all decorated up. This was in the time before home made stuff was suspect, and really was the norm. We had had a party for Halloween, before Christmas, and for Valentine's day. Easter was coming up and we were to have a party for it, too! And a WHOLE WEEK off from school! I was so excited!

Then I found out that I would be put in the hospital on the day before the party in order to have my tonsils out on the party day instead. And I was completely miserable for the week off of school while I recuperated from the surgery.
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  #76  
Old 09-14-2012, 11:44 PM
dwyr dwyr is offline
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I was just reminded of one of my childhood disappointments. I had to go into the hospital on Easter Sunday to get my tonsils out. I was positive my brothers were going to ravage my Easter basket while I was gone. Fortunately they didn't (as far as I know) but it was days before I could enjoy any of it.
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  #77  
Old 09-15-2012, 04:01 AM
Filbert Filbert is online now
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When I was about 8, the city I lived near ran a competition to design a christmas card with all the local schools, including mine. They made a really big thing out of it, and the prize was supposed to be something like £500 for the kid, and lunch with the mayor, as well as a bigger cash prize to the school.

About a month after sending in the entry, we moved out of the county, as my parents were starting their own business, and I obviously had to move to a different school. A few days in at the new place, the head teacher came in with an announcement- she'd just had a phone call to say I'd won the card designing contest! Me! Out of thousands and thousands of kids!

I was really excited- though I wasn't sure if I was still going to get lunch with the mayor, seeing as I didn't live there any more, and my parents were probably going to be way too busy to drive back down there. But £500! I could buy a freakin' pony!

Every morning for months, I excitedly checked the post for the letter telling me about my prize, until christmas passed, and it suddenly occurred to me that they must have disqualified me for moving away, and not even bothered to tell me. I never heard anything more about it.

I still can't think about that without getting angry- I mean, if they'd sent me a letter saying they were sorry, but the competition was only open to county residents, with a £5 book token, I would have been happy. If they'd just sent me a damn letter saying that I had to still be in the area to get the prize, I would have been a upset, but I would have understood (especially as the major part of the prize went to the school)- but to tell an 8-year-old that they're going to get something so utterly awesome, and then drop it without a word? Rat bastards.

Last edited by Filbert; 09-15-2012 at 04:03 AM. Reason: trauma related bad grammar
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  #78  
Old 09-15-2012, 06:46 AM
Colophon Colophon is offline
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Originally Posted by Soylent Juicy View Post
My mom belonged to a group called the "Newcomers Club." Apparently it was for people who were new to a city, as a way to meet people or whatever. I was probably about 3 or 4 and I heard it as "Cucumbers Club." I thought people met up to eat cucumbers and trade cucumber recipes and talk about growing cucumbers. Imagine my disappointment when she took me to one of the meetings and there were no cucumbers anywhere. I was hungry too - I didn't eat much before because I was expecting to have cucumbers!
Ha! Reminds me of a girl I know who at the age of 18, during freshers' week at university, signed up for the Christian Club cos she thought it said Christmas Club.
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  #79  
Old 09-16-2012, 01:14 PM
amijane amijane is offline
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My siblings and I had been staying with Grandma for a week during summer break. My mother called to confirm she and my dad would be picking us up at the train station the next day, and she said she had a big surprise for us!

I convinced myself it'd be a puppy. Seven year old me was really disappointed when my mother turned up at the train station with a brand new...

Perm. Fuckin' 80s.
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  #80  
Old 09-16-2012, 06:08 PM
Glory Glory is online now
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The raccoon and monkey story made me think of the big rabbit disappointment when I was in fifth grade.

My dad was in the Air Force and TDY overseas. He asked me what I wanted him to bring me and I said a rabbit! My dad said, sure no problem. For the entire time he was gone, I fantasized about my pet rabbit. How soft and fluffy he would be, how I would love him.

My dad came home with...a stuffed blue rabbit! I was so disappointed but I hid it and didn't tell him for years. He said he had no idea I wanted a real rabbit!
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  #81  
Old 09-16-2012, 08:00 PM
Lynn Bodoni Lynn Bodoni is offline
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My mother had a habit of telling me that I could go on an outing and invite a friend or two, and then deciding that no, she didn't want to take us after all. Guess who got to call up her friends and tell them that my mother wasn't going to take us to the movies after all? Yep. As you can imagine, this did not increase my popularity.
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  #82  
Old 09-16-2012, 08:52 PM
Zjestika Zjestika is offline
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Originally Posted by Alice The Goon View Post
I don't remember the brand- Fisher Price, maybe?- record players for kids. My brother and I were so excited when we got one, and it never ever worked. We would have 2 or 3 of them as kids, and none of them ever worked. How disappointing.
Like this one? I had one and it was one of my very favorite toys. I wonder if my mom still has it somewhere? I'm sorry yours didn't work.

I also want to say that I stopped reading after teela brown and wolfman's posts broke my heart. There's nothing that kills me like the disappointment of others. I want to hug all you small, sweet children.
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  #83  
Old 09-17-2012, 10:04 AM
PapSett PapSett is offline
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Pretty sure I've written about this before, but it was one of the biggest disappointments of my life.

As anyone that knows anything about me knows, I am, and always have been horse crazy. When I was about 4-ish, my parents and I were at my grandparents' house, somewhere around Thanksgiving. I was in the next room playing by myself, and overheard them all talking. Mom said 'we're going to get her a P-O-N-Y for Christmas', spelling out pony. Now... my mother never really knew me very well and had no idea that I had taught myself to read... and knew how to spell pony. All excited, I ran ut and gasped, "I'm getting a PONY??"

My mother turned around and glared at me and said hell no, if you KNOW about it we're not getting it, or something to that effect. I was crushed and begged for them to reconsider, but to no avail.

I never did get that pony.
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  #84  
Old 09-17-2012, 10:36 AM
Foxy40 Foxy40 is offline
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Originally Posted by Lynn Bodoni View Post
My mother had a habit of telling me that I could go on an outing and invite a friend or two, and then deciding that no, she didn't want to take us after all. Guess who got to call up her friends and tell them that my mother wasn't going to take us to the movies after all? Yep. As you can imagine, this did not increase my popularity.
Your mom and my mom should have lunch. She pulled that BS all the time. Said she would do something but then she was too tired, too busy, didn't feel like it. Blah Blah.

I was pleased as punch when my daughter's friend asked her if I was definitely taking them to the mall the following day. Daughter responded, "Of course, my Mom always does what she says she is going to do".

That statement is only second to when my older son and his aunt were talking and she said something like "But all parents embarrass there teens at some time or another" and my son said "My mom never embarrassed me". As a school counselor she was so impressed by that she immediately had to tell me what he said. Made me feel great.

However, my breathing too loud embarrasses my daughter so I guess I lost that ability between the ten years they were teens.
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