mom's at it again

...and this time the wrong person answered the phone.

I was in the shower this morning and Rick was ironing his clothes. My cell phone apparently started to ring. And again. Again. Again. Each time the theme song from Halloween played, so Rick knew full well that it was my mother. By the time the phone rang for the fifth time, he figured it was an emergency and answered.

I don't think he was prepared for the inane cajoling of wanting us to find happiness by going back to church. Well, if there's anyone who's more turned off by organized religion than me, it would be Rick. No placating here.

As I stepped out of the shower, I could hear him lecturing someone on the phone. "You are the one who is pushing everyone away," he said. I wasn't sure who he was talking to. Perhaps his mom. Until I realized he was crouched down by my side of the bed, huddled around my plugged in cell phone. Oh no, he's talking to my mom!

He hung up the phone with her, and proceeded to share with me her plea. "You should join the church. Get her to come back to church. You will be so much happier. So much more fulfilled. It will bring the family closer together."

Clearly Mom has no sense of boundaries. And again, it's all about her. She really doesn't seem to notice that we are happy and fulfilled. Even more disconcerting to me is that she's wasting her time and energy on an issue that was put to rest almost 9 years ago when I stopped going to church, instead of focusing on her 15-year old who was just expelled from high school yesterday for selling a classmate two bars of Xanax for $5. Now tell me, what's more important? Debating the merits of organized religion -- or -- providing the love, guidance and support of a teenager who has gotten himself into a whole heap of trouble?