My Mom Lets Me Roller Skate In the House

My mom lets me roller skate in the house, the new boy said. Liar! I thought, but I kept it to myself. She lets me paint murals on the walls of my room, he added. You are a fibbing fool I thought, but I did not call him on it. My mom lets me swear upside one wall and down another. I watch for his nose to grow, not realizing most of this was true. I thought all Mom-rules were the same. But when I became a mother, I attached swings to the rafters of the basement so my children could swing inside. I also let them skate in the basement for it had a smooth cement floor. When my daughter was thirteen, I let her paint murals all over her room. Figuring she could not do a lot of damage with the approved pastel paints. Not realizing her best friend had sneaked in a can of black. Mistake.