Our teen hit a fun developmental milestone this week: she ordered a pizza delivery by herself while we were out.
This may not seem like a big deal, but it was the first time she had ever done it and she was pretty darn proud of herself.
We got the cutest text: “I ordered pizza, nobody freak out.”
Her dad and I were at school for parent-teacher conferences, hearing glowing reviews from her teacher about how Z is the heart and soul of their classroom. It’s something we’ve heard many times from many teachers, but never tire of.
Z’s dad and I had the same reaction to the pizza text: proud and also somewhat amazed that she pulled that off.
Maybe it’s because she’s an only child, but we often do things for her that she can undoubtedly do herself. We’ve never told her to order her own pizza – we’ve always just done it for her.
So it was pretty cool for all of us to realize that she truly doesn’t need us anymore. She can get online, find the Papa John’s website, and order and pay for her own pizza!
The experience was obviously so fun for her that she repeated it a few nights later while at a friend’s house. That time, we got a different text: “Please don’t be mad. I ordered pizza for us! Sorry, that’s the last time I’ll do that.”
We were cracking up – we weren’t mad in the slightest. I told her this is an essential teenage milestone and that she knocked it out of the park.
In fact, her pizza delivery spree reminded me of an experience when I was a teen. I don’t know if it was my very first time, but it was definitely one of the first times I ever ordered pizza without my parents.
I had a friend over one night when my parents were out of town. She suggested ordering a pizza for dinner, so I called our local pizzeria and we waited for the delivery. It all went perfectly until my friend and I realized, just before the pizza guy got to the house, that we didn’t have enough cash to pay for it. This was back in the mid ’80s – before teens had credit or debit cards – so we had absolutely NO way to pay.
So what did we do? I’m not proud of this, but we freaked out and hid. We turned off all the lights, locked the doors and hid in a dark house giggling silently while that poor jilted pizza man rang the bell repeatedly and pounded on the door. He even walked around to the other side of the house to knock on and peer into the sliding glass doors. It honestly freaked us out how insistent the guy was!
Of course, I feel terrible that we stiffed the guy – and I truly hope he didn’t have to pay for that pizza out of his own money. But we just couldn’t think of what else to do in that moment! Our punishment was that we had to scrounge up crackers and cheese for dinner that night, since we didn’t feel like cooking anything.
Do you remember the first time you ordered pizza as a teen? I’m hoping that it was victorious and satisfying, like Zoe’s experience – and not terrifying and embarrassing like mine.
I’m so happy that our young teen has discovered the joys of ordering food to the house – and also glad that she knows better than to abuse the privilege. She’s an independent girlie until the money runs out on her card – then, she’ll suddenly need us again.
I love that teens still experience milestones much like growing toddlers and children do, it’s just that often we’re not paying close enough to realize that they are milestones. I’m glad all three of us realized that this solo pizza delivery was indeed a special occasion and represents another life skill our girl has taken on board and mastered.
Is anyone else hungry for pizza now? I sure am!
