Dan Kennedy (6:42)

That was Allie Muldrow. Allie is the mom of two young children, as well as an educator, activist and doula. She's also on the board of directors for the Fair Wisconsin Education Fund. And she's the co director of Black Girls are Magic of Madison. To see some photos of Allie and her kids, head to the extras for this episode on our website, themoth.org up next is Michelle Cloud. Michelle told this story at a Milwaukee Story Islam back in 2013. And the theme of the night was Busted. Here's Michelle live at Vermont.

Michelle Cloud (7:24)

So last October, my husband Patrick and I were invited to go to Vegas to celebrate his best friend's 40th birthday. And I didn't really want to go, but he really wanted to go. But the problem was we have three kids. The youngest is seven and she's never been away from us overnight. So we thought, we'll take all three kids. We'll do family stuff during the day, we'll leave the kids in the hotel room at night and go out for debauchery and it'll all be good. But the 17 year old Meredith, who is our oldest son, I said, uh, she does a lot of drama. She's a senior in high school. And she said, no, I've got this play competition that weekend. I have to be there. There's no way I can go. So we thought, okay, if we make her go, it'll be miserable. So we decided we'll take the younger two. We'll let Meredith stay home by herself. Yeah, you see, we didn't see. And we will go to Vegas and it'll all be fine. And Meredith was like, oh, I'm responsible, I'm mature, I never do anything wrong. It'll be fine. What are you worried about? So I said, okay, you're right. So we went to Vegas. And I'd never been. It wasn't as bad as I thought, but, you know, the food was better than I had expected. And then we came back, and the house was still standing, and it seemed okay, but things were a little off. Meredith had cleaned part of the basement, the part where she entertains friends, and a path to the refrigerator through the unfinished part of the basement. And I thought, that's odd. And then on Monday, after we came back, I was cleaning in the basement, and I found a cardboard box of trash, and I was emptying it into a trash can, and I found this list. And it said things like magazines, table, rock band, drum set. It was a list of things she had moved so she could remember to move them back, but she didn't move them back. So there was a list of things. And, you know, I'm not a detail person. I never would have noticed these things were moved. But here I have a list of things that were moved, and, oh, look, they're still moved. So I thought, okay. So I called Patrick at work, and I said, honey, Meredith had a party while we were gone, and I want to confront her, but I want to wait till you get home. And I don't know what to say. And he said, why do you want to do that? Don't tip your hand. You'll just make her be more careful next time, you know. He said, the house is still standing. The police weren't called. Don't say anything. So I said, okay, sounds good. I don't really want to bust her. So I didn't say anything. And so then she would say, you thought I was so immature and irresponsible, and I would just bite my tongue. Then on Tuesday, she came home from school and said, mom, I need to talk to you. And I said, why? What's up? And she said, it's not good. And I said, oh, well, what's up? And she said, I got called to the office today, and I got in trouble at school because I was drinking at a party. And I said, oh, where were you at a party where you were drinking here? It's like, really? Yes. While you were gone. So she got in trouble at school. She had to miss one of the competitions of the play, the whole reason she couldn't go to Vegas in the first place. And she got kicked out of the National Honor Society. And she was allowed to appeal that decision. So she appealed that decision, and she wrote a letter, and there was a hearing, and she was allowed to take a character witness. And she asked me to go as her character witness. And after saying, are you really sure. That I am the best character witness at this point in our relationship. I decided, okay, I've already said all the stuff that parents say. So I went with her. And she got. There were five teachers there and we were in this room and she got to say why she thought she should get to stay in the National Honor Society. And then they asked me why, you know, what I had to say. And I kind of realized at that point it's not just her that's busted. I'm busted, too. I'm the mom that went to Vegas and left her 17 year old at home to have a drinking party. You know, who is in trouble here? But what I told these teachers was, you know, yeah, she made a mistake, but she's a good person, she's honorable, she's smart, she's giving, she's generous. She didn't turn in any of the other National Honor Society members who were at the party. And, you know, I think that what's really important when people make mistakes is that they learn from those mistakes and move forward and not that they're just people who never make mistakes to begin with. And I was kind of talking about her, kind of talking about me, but they kicked her out anyway. And in the end, though, I think it was kind of a really good experience for me, not so much for her. I mean, she got kicked out of National Honor Society, but it was kind of nice because I got to say these things. I got to articulate things about being a good and honorable person that, that I might not have articulated otherwise. And particularly in front of my daughter, who is here, by the way, tonight. And, you know, all in all, it was kind of a good bonding experience getting busted with my daughter. So.

Dan Kennedy (13:01)

That was Michelle Cloud. Michelle is a mom of three and an organizing manager with Everytown for Gun Safety. She's also told a number of stories on the Moth story slam and grand slam stages. When we followed up with Michelle, she told us her daughter Meredith, now 23, recently spent a weekend back at home watching her younger sister while Michelle was in New York. Michelle did not find any evidence of a party. If you're looking to hear from more rock star moms, you can check out the Moth's third book, Occasional Magic. You can read about a mother of triplets traveling to Antarctica and another who dedicates her life to helping others become parents after adopting her own child. Occasional Magic is out now and it's available wherever you get your books. That's going to do it for this time around, but we'll be back soon with more stories. Until then, from all of us here at the Moth in New York, have a story worthy week.

TurboTax (13:58)

Dan Kennedy is the author of Loser Goes First, Rock on and American Spirit. He's also a regular host and storyteller.

Dan Kennedy (14:05)

With the Moth Podcast, production by Julia Purcell and Paul Rue West. The Moth Podcast is presented by prx, the Public Radio Exchange, helping make public radio more public@prx.org.