Senile, or just the parent of a teen?

Sometimes the teen just flat out cracks me up. He does something or says something, and I am vividly reminded of doing the exact same thing when I was his age.

Tonight, just before bedtime, he tells me, "Oh, I forgot to say, you didn't give me the money for the play."

When I didn't answer quickly enough he went on, "You know, the two dollars?"

I remembered. His English class is going to Fiddler on the Roof tomorrow. So, this morning I very carefully gave him the permission slip, the money for the play, two midterm grade reports that needed a parent's signature, and the money and form for his school photos.

Obviously the money got lost in all that stuff, probably on a floor or sidewalk somewhere. Oh well. Stuff happens. Not a happy thing but definitely not the end of the world. Next time I will know to try to avoid that kind of confusion.

But I wasn't thinking about that right then. Instead I responded, "Yeah, I did. This morning? Remember? It was on top of those papers I gave back to you?"

He gave me a look so full of doubt and disbelief that it was nearly an accusation. "Weeeellll," he said, "I'll look again tomorrow."

His voice trailed off in a tangle of innuendo. I was either crazy or a liar, the tone said, but either way he was only humoring me. The money wasn't there, ergo, I hadn't given it to him.

I refrained from rolling my eyes as I gave him the money again. After all, I can remember thinking exactly the same thing about my parents.