Clean Socks, a Toothbrush, and Duct Tape

Clean socks, a toothbrush, and duct tape. That is what one fifteen-year-old boy brought to a sleepover at our house last weekend. Imagine what I saw when I walked down my basement stairs to check on “how things were going” with seven adolescent boys and this role of duct tape. Actually, before seeing anything, I heard someone announce, “Hey guys, hog tie me and let’s see how much pain I can endure!”
I turned the corner to see a huddle of faces full of joy and glee as my sons and a third boy methodically wrapped the friend on the floor’s hands and feet behind his back. The boy on the floor proceeded to then jerk his arms and legs around as he attempted to flip back onto his feet while trying to avoid the tesla coil (picture a zapping lightbulb) that they were shocking his bare arms with. The tesla coil was a “gift” from my father-in-law, the former science teacher. I’m sure he had visions of the inquisitive experiments they would complete rather than the pain they would inflict on themselves and their friends.
I began to stop the madness and to share my parental wisdom and years of experience with these boys, but then I saw the smile on the hog-tied boy’s face as he twisted toward the shocking bulb and not away from it. This was 15-year-old fun, and I just didn’t get it. But they did.