Calgon, Take Me...

Jumping the shark: A phrase used to denote the point in a television program's history where the plot spins off into absurd story lines or unlikely characterizations. These changes were often the result of efforts to revive interest in a show whose viewership has begun to decline, usually through the employment of different actors, writers or producers.

Some days there's just not enough Calgon to take me away far enough...

Hubby and I started off our day with a challenge. That's what I'll call it. Though I'd rather say we were embroiled in another dramatic episode of our least favorite "reality show" we like to call The Boy Who Cried Wolf.

Longtime readers of my blog know what I'm talking about. We have an ongoing parental challenge with a certain teenager who lives outside our walls now and, therefore, outside the radius of our rules and outside the reach of our boots, poised to kick him in the...

You get the idea.

This morning, the "show" totally jumped the shark -- becoming so absurdly dramatic, it was almost laughable. Except we can't laugh. This is life. All we can do is shake our heads, roll our eyes and say the Serenity Prayer (over and over and over again).

I don't know why but I will protect the innocent and not go into details. But I can say, at minimum, it was an unwelcome distraction to the day.

So how did I cope? You know what they say. When the going gets tough, the tough go... get their hair done over lunch... and the tough go... to DQ across the street...

Isn't that what they say?

Since the drama is unfolding (still), I don't know how this episode will end. But we are finding that the more times we say the Serenity Prayer, the better we feel. Hubby even made supper and I heard Carter on the phone with a friend saying, "Hang on. That's my dad singing. I gotta talk in my room so I can hear you."

Gotta love "commercial breaks" on reality TV!