Parents Reap Payday Moments

Our newlywed son, Anthony, and his wife, Candice, invited their families to share Candice’s birthday celebration in their tiny apartment. It turned out to be one of those payday moments that parents fantasize about when their teenagers are driving them nuts.

First off, when I mention that their apartment is tiny, I mean TINY. By the time eleven people had arrived, everyone agreed it was a good thing we were friends and had used deodorant because there was a lot of shoulder rubbing going on.

Anthony had baked a chocolate cake in a 9x13 inch pan, decorated it with blue icing and written a "Happy Birthday" message in pastel M and M’s. He served it on a new set of dishes with matching stainless steel forks. No "cheap" paper products for THIS honorable crowd! He then offered us ice cold water from the new Britta water purifying pitcher, served in sparkling-clean glasses. Candice was regal as she accepted the baked delicacy and her birthday gifts seated upon an elegant lawn chair throne.

It wasn’t long until her younger brothers and sisters had done what younger brothers and sisters do best by scattering cake crumbs all over the carpet. The newlyweds quickly got their vacuum cleaner out . . . let’s see . . . I think this particular version is called a dust buster . . . and vacuumed up the crumbs. At which point the parents were bursting with joy to see how the happy couple reacted to the idea that THEIR home was being messed up by a bunch of little hooligans. And the best part . . . as we left the party and the mess behind, the newlyweds seemed more than happy, even anxious, to have us go so that they could get on with the process of being independently dependent on each other.

For parents who are still immersed in a world of vacuuming cake crumbs, washing dishes, wiping up spilled milk and wondering if any of the responsibility training will ever "sink in," just remember this. Payday moments are ahead!