A Few

"Hey Mom? Can I have a few friends over to play video games?"
"Sure. That sounds like fun."

So today when I was getting ready to go to the store, I asked casually how many were coming for the evening's festivities.  "Around 12."  I recovered from the initial shock of numbers to ask the follow up question.  "How many did you invite?"   "20." 

"20?" I stared at my child with incredulity.  "I said a few.  You asked to invite a few. How many is a few?"  I shook my head.  "For the record," I held up my hand.  "Less than one hand worth of fingers is a few."  But then I went out to get the pizza and chips for the designated number.

Alone in the car, I had time to think.  How could we get to 12? Why didn't I ask?  Shouldn't I be happy he has 12 who want to come? Maybe living in a family of 12 has radically skewed the perception of many, some and a few for all my kids and I should make this clear now, or maybe I'm still new to this having older kids bit of parenting and so I don't speak teen. I called my brother who teaches sophomores and juniors at a private high school in Houston.

"How many is a few to teen boys?"  I asked.
"12-15" he answered.  He laughed. 

So I picked up the pizzas, added a few more sodas and a few bags of chips.  When I got home, I told him, "Tomorrow, I have a few chores for you."