The Awkward Moment When You Have To See Long-Lost Family Members

Photo Credits to http://outmanned.com/blog/category/family/

              Today, I had the pleasure of spending an entire day at my aunt’s house in California for a family reunion. The weather was nice and the beach twenty steps outside the backyard looked enticing. In other words, it was a perfect day in the making.

                Except for the family part of the reunion.

                After not living in/visiting California for a while now, seeing family was just kind of… uncomfortable to be honest. I mean, what in the world are you supposed to talk about? You always end up talking about two things: school and relationships (as the above picture describes quite precisely). Conversations usually go something like this:

                “So, Sarah, how’s school?”

                “It’s not bad. Can’t complain that much.”

                “Are you doing well?”

                “Relatively.”

                “Are you in clubs?”

                “Yes, orchestra and After School All-Stars to name a few.”

                “That’s good. Are you studying for your SATs or ACTs now?”

                “No…”

                “Oh.”

                “Yeah.”

                “So. Boyfriend?”

                “No.”

                “That’s okay.”

                “Is it bad that I don’t have one?”

                “ ‘Course not…”

                “Alright then. Um… erm… I think I hear my mom calling. It was nice talking with you Auntie…”

                Yes, I am a socially awkward person. It’s okay. Luckily, family cannot judge you because they realize that if they judge you, they’re basically judging themselves since you’re part of their bloodline and let’s be honest, they came before you, so who’s to blame? I’m not really sure if that sentence made sense; partly because it was an extreme run on. My English teacher that ignores me would tack off five points with a smile.

                Maybe I should work on some social skills before I attend the next family reunion; talk to a mirror for five minutes, then have some already prepared answers for the questions I know will be coming so people won’t be disappointed. Sure, I’m stretching the truth a bit, but it makes conversations with family less awkward, I don’t think anyone will be complaining. Maybe conversations will go like this:

                “So, Sarah, how’s school?”

                “Fantastic! I’m on the honor roll and a perfect 5.0 GPA!”

                “Wow! That’s impressive! Are you in clubs?”

                “Yes, I am the captain of the math team and I am the first chair in my orchestra!” (both of these are complete lies)

                “Not bad. Studying for your ACT/SAT?”

                “Of course I am- I take classes every Saturday and will be taking the ACT in January.” (um, have I mentioned that I have no intentions of studying that hard for these tests?)

                “Do you have a boyfriend?”

                “Obviously. He’s 6 foot 3, smart, athletic, and super nice, don’t you approve?” (well isn’t this a joke…)

                “Of course I do!”

That conversation will never happen… but let’s get over it.

Family reunions will always be awkward.

The Awkward Moment When Your Little Sister Asks For An iPhone for Christmas

Photo Credits to http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/m/mailing_list.asp

             On Monday, my mom passed out pieces of paper to my sisters and me at the dinner table and asked us to write a letter to Santa. My seventh-grade sister and I rolled our eyes casually and wrote the letter halfheartedly, you know, the usual, “Hi Santa, I’ve been good. Now hand over the gifts and maybe I’ll put out of cookies on the 24^th.” But, my second-grade sister made sure to write her letter very slowly, thinking about what she really wanted and probably giving examples of when she had done something worthy of a gift (sharing her toys, not slapping her older sisters, etc). After she had finished writing, my mom collected all of our letters and put them on top of the fridge so no one could reach it. Being the bad daughter that I am, I still went to get them when she left the kitchen. I decided to read the seventh grader’s letter first. She asked for soccer equipment, which isn’t exactly surprising since I think that the girl lives and breathes soccer.

         But then, I read the second grader’s letter.

                Dear Santa, I have been very good lately. I shared my dolls with my friend yesterday and helped my mom clean up the cichen (kitchen, for those of you who don’t read 2^nd grader language). For Christmas, I want an iPhone because Mrs. L. has one, and it has fun games on it. I like the one where you jump on blocks.

            Sincerely, Kathryn

                I spent a good amount of time staring at this letter. I hadn’t even asked for an iPhone, and I’m the one with the broken phone! This made me think about how fast kids are becoming addicted to technology. Kathryn already had her own notebook laptop January of her first grade year (her class made their own blogs, so this is why she needed one, or so she claimed), and even my baby brother, Matthew, had one of those new vTech-baby laptops. Let me tell you, when I was in first grade, I used to write things longhand, and when I was a baby, I played with Winnie-the-Pooh stuffed animals. And I wished for a stationary set in second grade, not a new phone.

                Kids these days are kind of getting ridiculous.

                But you know what would be more ridiculous?

                If Kathryn actually got the iPhone.