Being thirteen has certain problems that only another thirteen-year-old would understand. The biggest, I think, is learning to get along well with adults. I have found that when dealing with grown-ups, it is wise to remember two things: Always use your head. Never use your head. For instance, one day just before supper, my mother sent me to the store for a loaf of whole-wheat bread. They didn't have any. When I told my mother, she said, "Well, what kind did you get?" I told her I didn't get any. She looked as if I had just announced that I was leaving home for good. "For goodness' sake!" Said, "if they didn't have whole-wheat, you should have got something else! Why don't you use your head?" Not long after that, she sent me to the store for red oilcloth. They didn't have any, so I bought seven yards of purple. I thought it was pretty. Mother didn't. She said, "who ever heard of purple oilcloth in a red kitchen?" I told her I was only trying to use my head. She said, "Well, don't! And in the future, if you can't get what I send you for, don't get anything." See what I mean? There are other things that seem a little strange, too. If my father goes out for the evening, he tells me to "look after" my mother and sister. But if the family goes out, and I want to stay home, my father won't let me. He doesn't feel comfortable if I am home alone. That means I am old enough to "look after" my mother and sister but not old enough to "look after" myself.  Another problem is what to do when you trip over   the cat and land with your head in the refrigerator, causing a large lump to appear just over the right eyebrow. In that case, your father could feel free to say with a few choice words. Your sister could shed enough tears to dampen the whole room. Your mother could, and probably would, do both. But you? You are thirteen and can't do anything! You are too young to curse  , and "big boys" don't cry. So you just stand there looking more stupid than usual. But in spite of all this, I still think thirteen is a wonderful age! The author thinks that his father should allow him to   _  .
go shopping by himself stay at home alone look after the family use his head