Parenting 101

A few days ago I was out of the house for awhile. When I came in my wife said to me, "DW wanted to use my credit card to by a sage plant off the net so I let him. He gave me the $60.00 cash. It seemed odd so I looked at the web site and it said SAGE so I guess it is ok."

It seemed odd? Here is a fourteen year old boy who has never even sprouted a seed for a science project, he gripes when asked to water the house plants and detests having to help out in the garden. And now he wants to spend $60 on a plant. A sage plant. You can get a sage plant for $2.49 at the nursery. I have one in the garden. Odd indeed.

I am not getting the whole story. I question DW about it but get no real information. But since Misses B. OK'ed the deal it must be alright. Maybe it is some kind of fancy plant that he is buying for a gift for his mother or myself. I decide on a wait and see approach.

Some times I get the feeling that Misses B. thinks my parental skills are lacking. That I am not strict enough, that's not how it was at her house. Or that I am not vigilant. I let things get past me. Maybe.

So the plant arrives in a small box. Must be some fancy plant. $60.00 for that little thing. Maybe it is some kind of Bonsai with a nice planter. So I open it up and out comes this little shriveled up, nondescript minty looking thing in a four inch plastic pot. Curiouser indeed!

Next step. I get the company name off the box and Google it. Turns out to be a company that sells Salvia divinorum and related products. For the uninitiated Salvia divinorum is a plant native to Central America used by Mayan priests to induce trace like states and visions. It effects include loss of body control, dizziness, hearing voices, visual hallucinations, loss of speech, out-of-body experiences, and perceived contact with other worldly beings.

This is not the kind of stuff I want my child messing around with. And indeed the web site states that they will not sell to minors. The plant is being returned, DW is out $60.

So now I am upset with myself for letting this "get past me". Oh yes and a wee bit angry with DW.

We are going to have have a little talk when he gets in...

OWL

April 27 2007