exchange with children

Tonight I had a conversation with my children that went like this. We were driving in the car:

14 yr old son: "Mom, can I go to Bell Buckle next weekend?"

Me: "No, you have no way to get there."

14 yr old: "You could drive me."

Me: "I'm not going down there next weekend."

14 yr old: "Dad says I can take the Greyhound bus"

Me: "I seriously doubt he said that."

14 yr old: "No! Really Mom. He did. And what's wrong with taking the bus?"

Me: "You're not taking the bus."

10 yr old daughter pipes in enthusiastically: "Mom! Martin Luther King, Jr won the PULITZER PEACE PRIZE for riding a bus through Alabama to the March on Washington, so buses are an important part of our social fabric!"

Me: "Jane, you have your facts a little mixed up. I think you're thinking of Rosa Parks and it was the Nobel Peace Prize."

14 yr old: "Whatever Mom. I want to take the bus."

Me: "No bus."

14 yr old: "That's so elitist of you Mom. You sound like a, like a REPUBLICAN."

Me: "No bus."

14 yr old: "I know the bus station is at the corner of Magnolia and there might be some shady characters hanging around, but no one's gonna bother me. Plus, I can take my lacrosse stick and hit anyone who bothers me."

7 yr old son joins conversation: "Yeah Mom. Or he could just take me, because I may be small, but I can take down a 6th grader if I have to. I could ride the bus with him and protect him."

14 yr old: "Elliot, I do not need my second grade brother to protect me on the bus."

Me: "Neither of you are riding the Greyhound bus anywhere."

14 yr old: "Can I get a tattoo?"

Me: "No."

14 yr old: "You shelter me too much, Mom."

Me: "I know."