I fear the day Scarlett begins to outsmart me. My 26-year-old brain is fully developed, so I'm quick, but according to scientists it's all downhill from this point. Before you know it, my gray matter will be pickled, which explains my parents' behavior. I've been outsmarting them for years. (Julie will be forced to comment, but it will be all lies).
It's just a matter of time before Scarlett pulls genius stunts like I did as a teen. Climbing out my window to meet up with buddies; drinking most of the eggnog, then filling the void with milk and gluing the top shut; my most brilliant ploy, pinning the crashed van on my dad -- all went undetected … mostly. James Dean's got nothing on me, mostly because he's dead, but I am a true rebel.
Life is full circle when our kids use lies , cheating , manipulation, varying techniques that parents use to get what they want. That is why I laughed when I read teens are using a device marketed towards adults for their own good.
It's called the Mosquito. The device emits high-pitched sounds to ward off or break up groups of teenagers. Allegedly, only those under 25-year-old can hear the annoying buzzing, but from time to time those over the hill can detect it, too.
This nonconfrontational, adult-friendly Mosquito backfired. Now teens are using it to send text messages during school hours because their old, slow teachers can't hear it.
NPR just interviewed the inventor, who claims the purpose of his Mosquito was only for violent gangs in hopes of protecting businesses. I view it as a way to control teens simply because they are obnoxious human mosquitoes created to drive the rest of the population to insanity. Old folks need to learn the only way to outsmart a teen is the Dave and Julie method -- threat of violence.
To check out the ringtone and see if you're an old fogy go to:
http://www.freemosquitoringtones.org/
To listen to the full interview on NPR:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129581152&ft=1&f=1006,1017
